a brief word about this weekend’s water crisis in hyannis

November 12, 2007 at 9:46 pm | In Barnstable DPW, barnstable, barnstable town council, barnstable water company, hyannis, hyannis water, john julius | 22 Comments

(as I try to get caught up on work, I did not add a post yesterday and might not today, but encourage you all to read the comments here on this post as there is an interesting discussion taking place. Please feel free to add your own comments, I ask that you stay within the guidlines, however.) 

I was still in Florida when phone calls started coming in late Saturday night. I spent much of the day yesterday on the phone from out of state as our staff worked to resolve the issues surrounding the water company’s older storage tank.

The storage tank tested positive for E. coli and the water was to be treated as the tank would be repaired.

Despite the fact that the tank was being processed to get rid of any harmful bacteria and the active water supply remained untouched, on Saturday night the state issued a mandate that a press release be sent, and protocol for such, designed by the state, was followed.

It is a little frustrating to note that all of this was done despite the fact that no bacteria was ever found in the supply of water being delivered to users, and that that part of the message remained mostly unspoken by television reporters etc. The press releases advised people per state recommendations to boil water before drinking, brushing teeth etc as a preventative measure until testing could confirm there continued to be no danger to the water supply.

Several people have asked why we couldn’t take this tank off-line, empty it, clean it and repair the holes. This tank supplies the reserves needed/required by the Hyannis Fire Department.  So the tank had to remain full and even though not supplying water to users, it had to be connected, although the connection was not open, and ready to supply water in case of emergency need by the HFD while the water was safely chlorinated.

The town has access to a system that will notify residents of disasters or emergencies via phone which has yet to be fully engaged, but if the bacteria had reached the water supply, the town would have employed it. If the test results today showed the E. coli had not been eliminated from the storage tank, we would have utilized this system.

Despite the fact that the active Hyannis water supply remained free of bacteria, the fact that protocol suggests water users err on the side of caution and boil water, makes sense. We will be examining the way the information was disseminated and consider that we should employ the phone notification in cases where information about something this important can be confusing and frightening.

Clearly, relying on the media to deliver the complete story is not fair to any of us. This was evident to me when I watched one news station deliver only part of the message. The story would have frightened me if I didn’t already know the whole story.

There is no question that this crisis was frightening and at the least, inconvenient to residents. I hope everyone knows that resolving any issues that effect our public water supply is a number one priority.

Last weekend we lost power for much too long, and we are all collectively unhappy with the way the electric company handled this crisis. This message has been delivered to the executives at NStar and we will follow up on that complaint. The electric company knew the storm was coming, they should have a clear plan to handle the damaged power-lines and downed trees, and they should have had enough staff to handle the problems faster than they did.

Please know that our staff who are responsible for our water supply worked hard to resolve this issue as quickly and efficiently as possible. Decisions were not made based on experience as owning a water company is new to many of them.  They followed the advice and protocol of the experts, and learned lessons along the way.

I personally apologize to anyone who was frightened or inconvenienced and want to be sure that everyone knows that your town’s staff was working around the clock to resolve the problems and to ensure your safety.  This is not “political-speak.”  This is the truth.

22 Comments »

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  1. Thank you for your hard work.
    Looks like a talk with the media is overdue. Especially the Media who brag on how (un)helpful they are to the audience.
    ciao
    Wayne

    Comment by wayne sellin — November 13, 2007 #

  2. It’s all about proper communications, or in this case, lack thereof. The residents and business owners were left wondering for two days. They had to rely on scattered media info rather than clear, honest statements from the town manager.

    People did not know what the real problems were, what the town was doing to fix the problems and when things might be back to normal. Relying on the media to carry out emergence message delivery is flawed logic and a diversion of responsibility.

    This All American City must be better prepared and do a superior job the next time there is an emergency situation in town. We have had two emergencies the last two weekends and failed communications both times.

    Comment by Deuce — November 13, 2007 #

  3. Truthfully, my mother-in-law is in elderly housing in Hyannis and we were very upset at first.
    Then, we called her and she read me something that the landlords gave her. I was freaked out because I live in Franklin, MA and after seeing the news on Saturday night we were trying to make arrangements to either bring her out to us for a week, or get her into a hotel in Falmouth.

    She insisted that the town would take care of her and that she was safe. Before she retired she was a research scientist and she was able to explain all of the details to us, and apparently to her neighbors.
    Although we were upset, you need to know that she felt as though your town was doing a good job in a bad situation. I’ll bet she let her neighbors know this, too.
    Thank You!
    Megan P
    Franklin, MA

    Comment by Anonymous — November 13, 2007 #

  4. You people need to get it together!!!

    This whole ordeal was full of the same stuff you found in the water!!

    I pray there won’t be a next time, but if there is you should have had people going DOOR TO DOOR!!!

    Comment by J.J., too — November 13, 2007 #

  5. Well done as usual, please read my post on the matter on my blog.

    barnstablebeat.blogspot.com

    Comment by TJ — November 13, 2007 #

  6. Lessons learned, I hope! I am still a little worried about drinking the tap water.

    Comment by Anonymous — November 13, 2007 #

  7. We live in Centerville but we stopped drinking tap water years ago and have filters on the water we use for brushing teeth etc…

    My sister won’t even use filters, her family all drink bottled water. Lately she has us all convinced to use a special type of washable water bottle and to buy large 4 gallon bottles to store in the fridge to refill the washable bottles.

    I remember when our kids were all in a pre-school in West Barnstable there were signs everywhere warning that the water had a high sodium level.

    What is the answer? Well, think about the path any water system asks your water to travel – under roads, through pipes of all types, old and new, and through your own plumbing…. get a filter for your coffee and tooth-brushing, and drink your water from a safe bottled source.

    Comment by Anonymous — November 13, 2007 #

  8. I got an email today from Gary Lopez about a new article on his blog. What happened to him quitting the blogging?
    Doesn’t this jerk get the hint? He and his minions lost the elections.
    He said he would shut down his blog the day after the election, and that was a week ago and he is STILL THERE!!

    Comment by Anonymous — November 13, 2007 #

  9. Lopez has claimed he was shutting down his blog many times in the past….he is just looking for his followers to pay him some attention, to plead with him “please don’t do it gaaarrryyyy… don’t go away…we need you….. what will we do with our free time? we will have to go back to watching the evening sky for UFOs!!”

    Comment by JSJ — November 14, 2007 #

  10. Time for people to stop reading lopez’s blog again.
    That old cout is fried…. he lost and he lost big!!
    Why read it?? I haven’t looked at it since a week before the election and I wouldn’t read it now for a dam wooden nickle! The guy is a loser and he and his little group of nutcases lost a sweep of an election! People don’t want all the negative crap.

    Comment by sandy — November 14, 2007 #

  11. Janet
    As the town council president, can you do something about Julius showing up at a council meeting after promising all of Barnstable he would go away for good?
    Would you ask him if he forgot to say that if he lost he would be back?
    Ask him if he REALLY EXPECTED TO WIN!!!!!!!

    What a fool, he says he is coming to the council meeting. Tell him for all of us that we want him to keep his damn word and stay away.

    If he shows up he shows us all his is just as much a liar as his mentor Gary Lopez who also promised to go away.

    Comment by hyannisport living — November 14, 2007 #

  12. None of them are going away. Many people agree with their concerns. At this rate, popularity of support is only going to grow.

    As far as the water, a mayor would of helped take control of this. There is no excuse for “not properly trained.” Make a phone call and spread the word…. take care of the town.

    Comment by Bradley G Ouimette — November 14, 2007 #

  13. I have heard from an overwhelming number of people that they are tired of seeing people like Julius at the microphone at public comment.

    Apparently this is also being posted on other blogs in response to something Julius said somewhere on a hate-blog about showing up at our next meeting to blast us about the water company and spew some conspiracy theory… that has us all pocketing money rather than fixing problems….

    Let me make it clear, regardless of whether a councilor is president, no councilor can tell him or anyone to stay away.

    The only way we can tell them to stay away is if they violate the rules of public comment.

    They can speak their two or three minutes of babbling conspiracies and tales of ineptitude.

    IT is up to YOU!!
    If you want him to go away, you tell him.

    If you want to reach him, call his office at Centerville. I won’t post phone numbers here like they do, and I won’t post his home address like they do, but since he has told the public more than once what he does for work, then that info is public.

    Comment by JSJ — November 14, 2007 #

  14. (this comment was edited by the owner to conform to WordPress tos)

    yo – “brad”

    Get a clue!!

    They all got bottom of the barrell in votes!!!

    (How many votes did you get?)

    Precint 3 had a higher turnout then any of the others and Schwaab got SPANKED!!

    Listen “brad” the truth is that as long as you follow them all like a lamb, you are in the minority, buddy.

    The masses who give a damn about town government have spoken!
    We don’t believe in UFOs! We don’t believe the conspiracy theories! We don;t believe our governent is corrupt!

    Tell you what “brad” like so many of my friends I originally thought a mayor might be a good way to go. But after listening to these psychos, I have rethought this and done some serious research.

    I am going to start my own blog and have spoken to many people in towns that have gone to mayor forms of govermnet who wish they hadn’t!

    What difference would a “mayor” have made this past weekend, “brad”? How would this have changed the fact that DEP requires people to be notified by press releases? How many towns with “mayors” have contracted with phone systems like the one our town has? How many towns with “mayors” would have covered up this problem to save the “mayor’s” rear end??

    GEt your facts straight, “BRAD” mayor or no mayor, the situation would have been the same!!!

    A mayor would be a politically appointed mananger, which would mean that he/she would he hiring managers based on polical promises!!
    Why would you trust a policitician any more than you trust the current government??

    Give me a break, “brad” your arguments are like swiss cheese.

    (Hyport Living is better than
    “cape cod” living!!!!)

    Comment by hyannisport living — November 14, 2007 #

  15. Everyone needs to read the other blogs linked from Janet’s site here on the right side!!!

    Check out TJ’s blog at http://barnstablebeat.blogspot.com or the other blogs like:
    http://barnstableblog.blogspot.com
    or
    http://barnstableblogblaster.blogspot.com
    or
    http://precinct3truth.blogspot.com

    and “brad” read up on these sites, too, and get a clue!!

    Comment by hyannisport living — November 14, 2007 #

  16. HyPort, if you would like to post a guest post here now and then we can talk!
    It might be easier than starting another blog.
    I do ask that you try to keep it clean and civil as you are one of the people whose comments I have to edit….

    Send me an email please, and let me know if you are interested. Just click on the link on this comment.

    thanks!

    Comment by JSJ — November 14, 2007 #

  17. I post on those sites.

    And yes, I do have “a clue!!”

    Comment by Bradley G Ouimette — November 14, 2007 #

  18. Thanks Bradley!!!

    Comment by JSJ — November 14, 2007 #

  19. FYI this came from Blogblaster today….

    Anonymous said…
    Hey Janet, Hank & MUNAFO, the THREE BIGGEST ASSES in town:

    TRUST ME, I WILL BE THERE tomorrow NIGHT right in your UGLY faces. So LISTEN for ONCE you spineless MAGGOTS.

    See you.

    Last week I had every intention of NOT HAVING to come back but your INCOMPETENCE will NOT keep me away! So STICK IT!

    YOU THREE, especially OWE it to the people to FIX your INCOMPETENCE!

    And tomorrow night I plan to tell EVERYONE this, you LOSERS!

    John julius

    November 14, 2007 11:10 AM

    Comment by FYI — November 14, 2007 #

  20. Are you laughing like the rest of us at this guy or what?

    What a jerk! He just doesn’t get it! Who the heck is he representing? We DON’T WANT YOU HERE JULIUS!!!
    Go away, you are embarassing yourself, can’t you see this?

    Comment by Sandy — November 14, 2007 #

  21. Julius didn’t post that here, apparently he posted it on another blog and someone has shared it with us.

    I almost didn’t approve this post, but it once again gives us the chance to consider who this man is, and how he operates.

    Yes, Sandy, you are right, it is embarrassing.

    janet

    Comment by JSJ — November 14, 2007 #

  22. OK, I just deleted several posts directed at Julius and others that I can’t approve, because I don’t want to start stooping that level.

    We just need to ignore them all.

    Thanks and apologies to those whose posts I deleted…..

    Comment by JSJ — November 14, 2007 #


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