St. George's resident fed up with town's water supply

St. George's - Rickey Swyers says he's fed up with broken promises made by the Town of St. George's.

He said each year town council says its going to be hooked up to new water wells but, according to Swyers, that has not happened and there is still no clean water.

"Council is dragging their heels on this despite there being grants out there for this kind of thing," Swyers said. "Millions of dollars have been spent on this and we continue to get surface water from a small brook, that not only crosses under the Trans-Canada Highway, but has runoffs from bogs as well."

He said there are possible contaminants from dead animals and road salt from the highway in the brook, and a concern of leakage from vehicles.

Swyers said it's a known fact that the Trihalomethane (THM) count is very high in town water and he doesn't believe that's good for residents' health. He said hot water tanks only last two to three years in St. George's before they have to be replaced and several years back, on the advice of a plumber, replaced all the copper pipe in his house with plastic after the copper had disintegrated.

Swyers said an incident earlier this week, which was not reported to residents, was the latest in a series of problems.

"People in the town have been keeping quiet about this, however, the last straw was on Monday when the pumps went down overnight and nobody was notified ...with too much chlorine being pumped through the system ruining clothes washed on that day," he said.

Swyers claims his family had about $500 worth of clothes ruined and this is something that happens often. And, enough is enough.

"It's time for the people in this town to get a meeting on the go and then invite government officials and members of the town council of St. George's in to find out if we're still going to have to drink and use this poisonous water," he said. "There are Third World countries that have better water than the residents of St. George's.

"I believe a representative of government should supervise a project for a new water system for St. George's to ensure the project is on budget and within its time limits. There needs to be a well system put into operation. They've already been drilled, but aren't hooked up."

He said residents have been washing clothes and bathing in this water for long enough and it scares him that some people use it for cooking and drinking.

"If something is not done we will end up with another water scandal like they had in Walkerton, Ont.," he said.

Swyers said he would like to talk to people in St. George's who have had clothes damaged by their water and who might be interested in getting a meeting organized. He said he can be reached at (709) 647-3662 and if he's not home at the time to leave a message.