Engineering consultant approved to develop filtration system
PRESTON – Chenango County Social Services Commissioner Bette Osborne is requesting an engineering consultant to develop a filtration system that would treat the high levels of arsenic found in the water supply to Chenango County’s Preston Manor nursing home.
Arsenic, a naturally occurring substance linked to cancer, was found at levels ranging from 30 to 40 parts per billion in drinking water at the home. Those levels would have been acceptable prior to 2007 when the federal Environmental Protection Agency threshold limits were 50. Today, the EPA allows only 10 ppb.
Bottled water is currently being supplied to Preston Manor residents.
The ballpark estimate for mediating the toxin to acceptable levels is estimated to be $58,000, and not only does Osborne not have the full amount in her budget, but the fix would involve technology with which local experts are unfamiliar, she said.
“This is very involved, and way over our heads here,” Osborne told members of the Chenango County Health and Human Services Committee this week. “The (Chenango County) Public Health Department feels we should engage an engineer.”
Engineering services for developing a proposal for the new system could be between $8,000 to $10,000.
Members of the committee questioned whether an alternative well at the site could be utilized, either a new one or an existing, older well. They discussed blending water supplies from both. Osborne said no one could be sure that a new or the existing, now covered, well wouldn’t have the same concentrations of arsenic.
The committee approved a resolution to the full board to proceed with hiring an engineer.
Preston Manor received an official, though non-punative violation from the EPA in 2008. Since that time, the county’s social services and public health departments have been working together to mitigate the problem. Osborne also said when she first learned of the problem three years ago, there were no viable filtration technologies on the marketplace for smaller well systems like the one that services Preston Manor.
Arsenic, a naturally occurring substance linked to cancer, was found at levels ranging from 30 to 40 parts per billion in drinking water at the home. Those levels would have been acceptable prior to 2007 when the federal Environmental Protection Agency threshold limits were 50. Today, the EPA allows only 10 ppb.
Bottled water is currently being supplied to Preston Manor residents.
The ballpark estimate for mediating the toxin to acceptable levels is estimated to be $58,000, and not only does Osborne not have the full amount in her budget, but the fix would involve technology with which local experts are unfamiliar, she said.
“This is very involved, and way over our heads here,” Osborne told members of the Chenango County Health and Human Services Committee this week. “The (Chenango County) Public Health Department feels we should engage an engineer.”
Engineering services for developing a proposal for the new system could be between $8,000 to $10,000.
Members of the committee questioned whether an alternative well at the site could be utilized, either a new one or an existing, older well. They discussed blending water supplies from both. Osborne said no one could be sure that a new or the existing, now covered, well wouldn’t have the same concentrations of arsenic.
The committee approved a resolution to the full board to proceed with hiring an engineer.
Preston Manor received an official, though non-punative violation from the EPA in 2008. Since that time, the county’s social services and public health departments have been working together to mitigate the problem. Osborne also said when she first learned of the problem three years ago, there were no viable filtration technologies on the marketplace for smaller well systems like the one that services Preston Manor.
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