Published: 12/05/2021 11:10:16 AM
SOUTH DEERFIELD – The South Deerfield Water Supply District is awaiting approval from the Attorney General’s Office following a court settlement in September regarding its rulings for outside testing and auditing services.
As part of the settlement, the South Deerfield Water Supply District is required to conduct a series of auditing and regulatory activities to ensure safe drinking water for the approximately 3,800 residents of South Deerfield and part of Whately it serves. Superintendent Dan Dion said the district has taken these measures but is pending official approval.
“We have filed with the attorney general who we intend to use for third party testing, sampling, and auditing,” said Dion. “The attorney general has not yet contacted us as to whether or not they will be approved. … Hopefully they just approve who we want. “
The settlement follows an investigation against former Superintendent Roger Sadoski Jr. and the South Deerfield Water Supply District, who allegedly failed to report the chlorine levels and cloudy quality (the turbidity) of public water by keeping the water records and monthly reports prior to submission have repeatedly changed from 2014 to 2018 to the State Office for Environmental Protection.
In addition, on orders from Sadoski, the South Deerfield Water Supply District allegedly illegally handled and removed an asbestos-containing pipe that has polluted the air and endangered the health of both staff and the public, the AG’s offices said during an emergency repair in 2018. Sadoski himself has given up his professional water license, is banned from all work in the public water supply, and faces $ 200,000 in civil fines.
Also as a result of the settlement, the Attorney General’s Office directed the South Deerfield Water Supply District to provide laboratories and organizations with decisions to conduct the following external testing and auditing activities:
■ Calibration of equipment to monitor the water quality of the water district.
■ Three years of increased sampling of chlorine, bacteria and cloudiness.
■ Monthly evaluations of the district-internal, electronically recorded logs.
■ Increased asbestos sampling.
■ Certified professional engineering study to determine optimal pH values in the water distribution system.
The district is applying to use Howard Laboratories, based in Hatfield, for sampling, and Small Water System Services, based in Littleton, for water quality audits.
Dion said the offers received for sampling and auditing are between $ 6,000 and $ 7,000 and will not put too much of a strain on the district’s $ 1 million budget. He added that the district continues to improve some aqueduct projects in the system and has other changes planned in the future.
“It’s over budget, but it’s not a significant amount that we cannot continue with improvements to the system,” he said of the cost of sampling and testing. “There were no fines or penalties for the district, and many of the terms in the settlement were things that the district was already planning or completing.”
The deal may also require additional training, but Dion said all four current employees have received the necessary training and are awaiting a hearing from the attorney general.
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