North Stamford Residents Pleased With Well-Testing Progress

While North Stamford residents are supposedly pleased with the city's current progress in well-water testing, the cost of cleaning up the mess may remain as a resident responsibility.

"We were really just looking for an update, to see if any progress has been made by the city, and we're pleased with the progress they're making, but we're always looking for more," NCSSE member Jay Crutcher said about a Board of Representatives North Stamford Water Supply Special Committee meeting on Jan. 24, which again addressed resident concern in regards to land contamination in parts of North Stamford. 

Securing city-sponsored well testing and the remediation of the Bartlett Arboretum were among at the close of 2011.  According to Crutcher, 750 North Stamford, Westover, and Springdale well-keeping residents have already signed up for well-water testing, booking the city for the year in terms of well testing for 2012.

"There's been a gap since March of 2009, when the city discontinued their initial well-testing project, so in some sense, we've been looking for a successor project since March of 2009," Crutcher said. "We're pleased to see that people are aware of this project and are taking advantage of it, and using it in a way that you not only protect the individual family, but also how that information can be used to protect the whole community by mapping that water quality data, and using that information to build a better understanding of where there are problems and where there aren't problems."

The city is eager to assist in the task of well-water testing in North Stamford, Crutcher explains, but is not so eager to pay for remediation.

"They're doing everything they can to provide more information...but financially, the city and the state are distancing themselves from remediation," Crutcher said.

"Residents are asked to pay a $100 fee [for well-testing]. The lab test itself was negotiated down by the city...and then there's additonal overhead of hiring a body to go out, knock on doors, and collect water samples. That's an additonal $70,000 a year cost that the city is covering,"

However, Crutcher hasn't heard any complaints over this development.

"On the other hand, if a North Stamford homeowner were to call a private lab and ask them to check their water, they'll say 'Sure, that'll be $350, please'."

Crutcher stated that NCSSE's next moves are largely dependent on the results of the ongoing well-water testing in North Stamford, which will provide information on what areas will need cleanup the most, and which areas may not require remediation at all.

"We're happy to see movement," Crutcher said.