(1/8) The Emmitsburg Town council heard from residents at the board’s January 6 meeting regarding alleged damages and costs experienced as the result of drinking water contamination.

Beginning in October, numerous Emmitsburg drinking water customers have been expressing their concerns over the brown colorization of their tap water.

More than 20 residents attended the commissioners' January meeting, either to comment on the drinking water issue or simply to witness the outcome of the discussions. Several of them informed the board of actual property damage or financial burdens they allegedly sustained as a result of the contaminated drinking water.

Although the water has been declared “safe to drink,” the claim of which a number of residents remain dubious, residents state they have suffered the consequences of rust in their water which has stained clothing (including expensive service uniforms), led to buying bottled water, and purchasing expensive filtration units, or increasing the number of filters they expend trying to eliminate the pollutants.

Allison Calhoun, Wheatley Drive, Brookfield, told the commissioners, “We have contacted two independent companies who have done water testing...(the tests) have high levels of iron and manganese,“ adding that the family's water “started out brown and now it's remained green... There are black specks that attach to the walls of the tub and the bottom, and when you smear them they smear like tar.”

Barrett Turner, West Main Street, said, “A filter that would last me one to two months, I've been changing every week… It's been a very frustrating time, a time full of fear... I have six small children,” adding, “I'm actually leaving the meeting with less trust in the water supply than I hoped to leave with coming into it.”
Residents also addressed additional impacts of the brown water, including the staining of laundry, including general service uniforms. Also questioned was compensation for expenses incurred by residents directly resulting from the water issues, and an apparent lack of communication between the town and the residents.

Town Manager Cathy Willets told the Emmitsburg News-Journal following commissioners' meeting, about a dozen water customers have already been compensated for excessive water use (presumably) due to their having to flush their water lines before using the water.

While town officials have tested various samples of the seemingly fouled water for a variety of potential contaminants, including lead, copper, and health-threatening bacteria. However, the precise causation has not been definitively determined, nor the precise impact areas of the foul water identified.