Timeline

June 2001: Test results show Pascoag Well 3A, a new well drilled near existing Well 3, to be free of contaminants.

June-August: Some residents notice an odd taste or smell in their water.

August 30: Pascoag resident George Reilly takes a sample of his well water to the Department of Health (HEALTH) to have it tested. It shows up with extremely high-off the charts-levels of MTBE.

August 31: HEALTH takes its own water samples from the town wells. All show up with high MTBE levels. The Department of Environmental Management (DEM) is notified of the contamination through its Emergency Response unit. The Underground Storage Tank program in the Office of Waste Management is brought in to attempt to locate the source of the contamination.

September 1: Residents are notified by announcements on the local news that they should not drink the town water.

September 3: Labor day. A story appears in the Woonsocket Call advising Pascoag water customers not to drink their water. Donald Merhtens, chairman of the neighboring Harrisville Fire Department, invites Pascoag residents to fill up water jugs at the Harrisville Fire House.

September 5: HEALTH's water use advisory first formally appears, in the Call. DEM, along with contractor Lincoln Environmental, begin site investigation as to the contamination source.

September 8: Staples and Poland Springs donate and deliver 1,300 cases of bottled water to the PUD. The donation is arranged by a Burrillville resident.

September 12: Wal-mart and Stop and Shop volunteer to donate additional water to be given away at the PUD office. However, this water is diverted to New York City. (Stop and Shop does donate bottled water later on in the month.) The PUD will hold water giveaways for the duration of the water use restrictions, initially on Saturday mornings, and later on Thursday nights.

September 13: DEM narrow down the potential sources of contamination to two locations, and issues immediate compliance orders (the strongest document they have the power to issue) to these businesses: the Main St. Mobil station, on Main Street in Pascoag, owned by Robert S. Potter; and the Department of Public Works garage, which had had a gasoline release in 1996. The immediate compliance orders are for testing to determine definitively if either of these sites are the actual source of the leak.

September 14: The PUD board enacts an outside watering ban. The ban carries with it penalties for customers who disregard the prohibition, including $100 for the first offense, $250 for the second offense, $750 for the third offense and $1,000 for any subsequent offense.

: --The Water Resources Board (WRB) and HEALTH approve the PUD's request for an interconnection with the Harrisville water system. This interconnection is not intended to provide all of Pascoag's water or bring the water up to drinkable standards, but is accomplished in order to prevent MTBE concentration levels from rising any higher and thus putting further water use restrictions into effect.

: --The Main St. Mobil receives a truckload of gasoline in the morning. HEALTH samples a test well near the property in the afternoon; the test results reveal a spike in concentrations at this well from 360 ppb to 600 ppb.

September 18: HEALTH adds additional water use restrictions: reduce the time spent in showers, ventilate bathrooms with exhaust windows or fans, give sponge baths to children who may swallow bath water, and reduce overall water use.

September 19: The Burrillville Town Council votes to loan the PUD $200,000. The town plans to be repaid from the Community Development Block Grant program through the state Office of Municipal Affairs in June.

September 20: EPA allows DEM to reallocate $400,000 from the federal Leaking Underground Storage Tank fund to cover costs in Pascoag.

September 22: The Burrillville School District opens up the hockey rink during specific times during the week for residents to take showers. Later, the times are expanded to include weekend hours.

September 24: DEM files a complaint in Superior Court against the Main St. Mobil station, charging that the operators have not done enough to investigate and address the apparent leak on their property. Though DEM Senior Council Brian Wagner cannot prove to Judge Steven J. Fortunato Jr. that the Mobil station is the source of the contamination, he says that the station does have a leaking tank and asks the court to force the station to drill more test wells and clean up the spill. Judge Fortunato does not close down the station; he orders the operators to progress with their testing plan and return to court the following week for an update.

September 25: The PUD hosts a meeting for water customers at the Burrillville Middle School. They invite many state officials there to speak on the water contamination, including Terry Gray, Assistant Director of DEM, Patricia Nolan, Director of HEALTH, Robert Vanderslice, Chief of Environmental Risk Assessment. HEALTH asked Dr. Thomas Hicks, an occupational and environmental health specialist, to speak on the panel as well, but he declined. About 300 residents are present. Many express concerns about their health and the health problems they have been experiencing. HEALTH passes out a handout with facts about MTBE and the water use restrictions. There is talk of filtering the water, and possibly establishing a long-term connection with Harrisville. Many residents leave angry and upset, with their questions unanswered.

September 26: Pascoag residents begin picketing outside the Main St. Mobil Station.

: --The Town Council approves a resolution asking Gov. Lincoln Almond and the General Assembly to collaborate on efforts to identify the source of the contamination and help resolve the problem using all available financial resources. (see resolution)

September 27: The Main St. Mobil voluntary shuts down and empties its gasoline tanks.

September 28: US Senator Lincoln Chafee visits Pascoag for a briefing and tour of the contaminated area.

October 2: The interconnection with Harrisville begins pumping 100,000 gallons per day into Pascoag pipes to dilute the water in the system. It appears to be keeping concentrations down. This interconnection is never intended to provide for all of Pascoag's water needs.

: --The PUD board approves the purchase and installation of a carbon filtration system. Gary Ezovski, of Lincoln Environmental, expects it to take 4 to 6 weeks from the date of purchase to get the system operational. He is quoted in the Call as calling the filtration system "unequivocally" the quickest and most effective method for cleaning up the water.

October 3: After hearing the updates in court from DEM and the Mobil station operators, Judge Fortunato orders the operators to install further test wells to determine the extent of the underground spill. Patrick Hogan, engineer with DEM in their UST program, testifies that the station operators' plans for proceeding with testing are not enough to test accurately. The court agrees, and sets up a testing system to be carried out by the Mobil station operators through their environmental consultant, Alliance Environmental Group.

October 9: The Concerned Citizens for a Healthy Pascoag (CCHP) holds a meeting at the Knights of Columbus Hall. About the same number of residents are present as were at the previous meeting with state officials. Dr. Hicks, the occupational and environmental health specialist, agrees to speak, and presents on MTBE and its possible health effects. He gives out a fact sheet from ATSDR concerning MTBE. Again, residents are frustrated at the lack of answers; however, they are not as angry as they were at the initial meeting. They are still very upset and concerned about their health symptoms. Kathy Knowlton, a nurse and a member of the CCHP passes out a health survey for residents to complete and indicate any health problems that they have been having.

October 10: HEALTH sponsors a question and answer session for Pascoag residents in the afternoon at the Northwest Community Nursing and Health Service in Pascoag. June Swallow, Chief of the Office of Drinking Water Quality, and Robert Vanderslice, Chief of Environmental Risk Assessment, speak with about 30 residents. They again express concern about health symptoms. They ask that the state contact doctors to make them aware of the situation.

October 11: Residents begin to receive quarterly water bills from the PUD. Many refuse to pay them.

October 13: Representatives of the New York law firm of Napoli, Kaiser, and Bern meet with Pascoag residents individually for the next two days. The firm has been involved in other environmental law issues and other lawsuits relating to MTBE in New York.

October 14: State Sen. Paul Fogarty, a democrat whose district includes Pascoag, writes a letter to Governor Almond calling for action. He outlines several steps that need to be taken: appoint a member of the governor's office to coordinate the state response, pay for any outstanding costs for a filtration system to strip MTBE from the district's water, establish a loan program to help small businesses, order state departments to expedite any permits or tests needed to get residents a drinkable water supply, and give residents clean water through the National Guard or other sources.

October 16: The PUD signs a six-month lease for a carbon filtration system to treat the contaminated water at the well area. It is expected to cost a total of $300,000. The system is to filter the water for six months to give the PUD time to find a more permanent solution, such as hooking up to a neighboring supplier. State approval is still needed before the plans are finalized.

October 19: PUD and Harrisville Fire District officials agree to begin merger talks. Paul Sams, general manager of the Water Resources Board, approves.

: --State officials deny approval for the carbon filtration system. Various explanations are offered: not cost-effective, not certain to bring water to desired standards, not needed as the connection with the Harrisville water system is the ultimate solution.

October 24: CCHP holds another meeting at the Knights of Columbus hall. Dr. Vanderslice again is present, as well as PUD board chairman Chris Toti. Governor Almond is invited but does not attend.

October 25: The PUD worries that it is beginning to give away water faster than it is donated, and cuts down the amount available at Thursday night water giveaways from 9 to 6 gallons per customer.

: --Members of CCHP protest at the state house in the evening. They call on Governor Almond to declare a state of emergency and pour jugs of contaminated water down the steps of the state house.

October 26: Main St. Mobil's environmental consultant, Alliance Environmental Group, stops working on the site because it has not been paid by the station. It withholds groundwater test results pending payment. DEM asks Judge Fortunato to find the station in contempt and to order a court-appointed receiver to take control of the site cleanup.

October 29: Judge Fortunato places the Main St. Mobil Station into receivership. The court also orders Alliance Environmental Group to release all testing results to DEM.

October 30: Governor Almond issues a press release stating that the state will begin door to door delivery of bottled water, handing out 60 gallons per water customer per month. Deliveries will take some time to get going, and poor maps and lists of houses will cause some homes to be initially skipped.

November 1: The coffee shop, the Best in Donuts, receives a loan from the Pascoag Water Assistance Fund to relieve immediate financial needs caused by the contamination.

November 4: The MTBE levels increase again in well number 3, prompting another HEALTH advisory: do not bathe children under 6 in the water.

November 6: The Underground Storage Tank Financial Responsibility Fund Review Board, headed by former state Sen. Vincent J. Mesolella Jr., announces that it may have funds available for Pascoag cleanup costs. Congressman Patrick Kennedy and Mesolella make a joint public statement regarding this fund, indicating that it was "odd" that the state hadn't tapped into this source of funding earlier.

: --DEM Director Reitsman and Cong. Kennedy publicly disagree on the expenditure of DEM monies (from an EPA grant to the UST program in 1997) for Pascoag costs.

November 7: The state decides to buy a carbon filtration system for the wells, though a less expensive and less permanent system than that which had been previously discussed. DEM Director Reitsma says that the filter was purchased due to rising MTBE levels, and is intended to give residents cleaner water until switching entirely to the Harrisville supply.

November 14: Judge Stephen J. Fortunato denies a request by a group of Pascoag citizens, represented by attorney William Harsch, to shut down the PUD wells.

November 15: The USTFRFRB agrees to pay for Pascoag clean-up costs, including the cost of the filter.

November 22: Tests show that the filtration system is reducing MTBE concentrations in the water supply system.

November 26: The Pascoag and Harrisville water boards begin tentative discussions of a possible merger.
December 19: Donald Mehrtens, chairman of the Harrisville Fire District, announces that no water will flow from Pascoag to Harrisville until the merger conditions are agreed upon.

: --The USTFRFRB announces that Pascoag residents who incurred serious expenses in dealing with the water crisis can submit claims for reimbursement under third-party liability.

January 10, 2002: The new wells at Eccleston Field in Harrisville are brought on line.

January 11: Judge Fortunato, responding to the second suit brought by a group of Pascoag residents, orders the PUD to shut off its wells and orders Harrisville to being providing water to Pascoag residents.

January 14: Pascoag water customers overwhelmingly vote down the proposed merger with Harrisville. Fear of losing control of the water system and the prospect of increased rates contribute to the merger failure. Issues dealing with billing and the appropriate price for water will continue for the next year.

January 19: HEALTH lifts all water use restrictions. Pascoag residents can once again cook with, shower in, and drink their tap water.

February 25: US Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) holds a Senate Committee on Public Works and the Environment Field Hearing in the PUD Garage. s

March: The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) interviews Pascoag residents. They are expected to release a report in fall 2002.

May 13: The EPA announces a $1 million grant to be given to DEM to deal with ongoing Pascoag clean-up costs.

August: The PUD and Ocean State Power begin talks regarding selling contaminated Pascoag water to Ocean State Power to use in cooling processes. Talks are stalled, but then continue.

October: Pascoag water customers are asked to vote on the expenditure of $250,000 by the PUD in exploration for a new well.