De Daniel Moss

Water Contamination Overwhelms Service Providers

Published Wednesday, September 9, 2009 at 2:02 am | Permalink

For over two weeks, Gloucester, Massachusetts residents and businesses were ordered to boil all water. For Dunkin’ Donuts, coffee is a big seller and with no boiling facilities, the boil order meant sharp temporary layoffs at their stores. You may not care much about Dunkin' Donuts' profit margins, but your heart would likely go out to the unemployed families.

“Many of Dunkin’ Donuts’ employees were already looking to us for services,” I was told by a local service provider who preferred to remain anonymous. His shop offers a variety of social services to Gloucester’s low-income families. “Now, the ripples from the water crisis may create a surge in families seeking assistance.”

The problem seems to have begun when a Gloucester water treatment plant broke down. Coliform appeared in the city’s water supply, prompting the boil mandate.

Gloucester’s water treatment infrastructure is old, in serious need of repair – perhaps even replacement. “But Gloucester doesn’t have that kind of money,” I was told. “We’ll likely need federal support.”

That support is hard to come by. The administration’s coffers are draining in bail-outs of banks, the auto industry and insurance companies. Public infrastructure repair, which the service provider noted could put people back to work, doesn’t seem to be a high priority.

“The upshot for us,” the agency head explained, “is that in a tough climate to raise money, the non-profit sector pays the price for lack of public investment. We’re delighted to care for families, but we need government to do its part in protecting common resources like water that we all share and depend on.”

A bill has recently been introduced in Congress by Rep. Blumenauer (D-Oregon) to establish a water protection and reinvestment trust fund for clean water infrastructure.