• Charlton residents tell of concerns over tainted wells; ExxonMobil absent from meeting

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People picket outside Town Hall before the Board of Health meeting on contaminated well water Tuesday night. Photo/Debbie LaPlaca
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  By Debbie LaPlaca
  Correspondent
  

  
  Posted Mar. 8, 2016 at 10:21 PM
  Updated at 10:23 PM
  
  
  

  CHARLTON – Katie Cunningham told the Board of Health she has lost clumps of hair in the shower and frequently suffers from rashes her doctors cannot explain.

  The 22-year-old Old Worcester Road resident said the symptoms began more than a decade ago. Soon after, her family learned their home well was contaminated with high levels of a hazardous gasoline chemical known as MTBE.

  She couldn’t say exactly when, but many years ago ExxonMobil Corp. installed a point-of-entry water filtration system in her home and delivers bottled water.

  Ms. Cunningham said the problems continued until recently, when she began bathing in the bottled water.

  At the microphone Tuesday, she said it was time to tell her story.

  A hush fell over the 90 or so people packed into the health board meeting on MTBE groundwater contamination, and the town’s demand for ExxonMobil to remediate the problem by installing municipal water lines to tainted properties.

  A well test at Ms. Cunningham’s home in January detected a pre-filtration MTBE concentration of 113 parts per billion, with no detection in the post-filtration tap water.

  The state’s drinking water safety standard says MTBE is a health hazard when concentrations reach 70 ppb.

  Ms. Cunningham is among the growing number of residents with MTBE-tainted wells. The list grew moments before the meeting, when new finds were reported.

  Health board Chairman Matthew Gagner said he called the meeting to answer residents’ concerns about new well testing along and in the vicinity of Muggett Hill Road.
  

  But, he said, the people with the answers – ExxonMobil representatives – decided not to come.

  “For them to be a no-show is disrespectful. They should be here tonight,” said Town Administrator Robin L. Craver. “Exxon has said they don’t think it’s important to be here and listen to your concerns.”

  The state Department of Environmental Protection named ExxonMobil responsible for two gasoline spills in the 1980s: about 12,000 gallons from underground fuel storage tank at the Massachusetts Turnpike 6 West service area, and a large but unknown amount at the former LaMountain’s Exxon station at Route 20 and North Main Street.

  The DEP suspects MTBE from the LaMountain’s site is traveling south within underground waterways.

  ExxonMobil is testing 86 wells in the vicinity. Of them, 30 contain MTBE, with six exceeding 70 parts per billion.

  The company supplies bottled water to the homes where MTBE has been detected, predominantly on Old Worcester Road, and operates filtration systems in homes with concentrations exceeding 34 ppb, such as Ms. Cunningham’s.

  MTBE has also been found south of Old Worcester Road in the well at Bay Path Regional Vocational Technical High School, starting in 2003.

  Small amounts of MTBE had been found in the pre-filtered water at Heritage and Charlton Middle schools starting in 2002. The chemical had been filtered out of the tap water and MTBE has not been detected at either school since 2012, according to DEP spokesman Edmund J. Coletta Jr.

  Mr. Coletta said the DEP has not deemed ExxonMobil responsible for the MTBE finds at the two Dudley-Charlton district schools or for the current small detections at nearby Bay Path.

  As part of the ongoing DEP investigation, ExxonMobil had been ordered to test wells at 45 homes along and in the vicinity of Muggett Hill Road.

  ExxonMobil was given 60 days from Jan. 29 to sample the wells and report whether probable human carcinogen MTBE, was found.

  In February, the DEP added to the list four homes in the vicinity of Heritage and Charlton Middle Schools, bringing the total to 49.

  The DEP reported Tuesday that 24 wells have been sampled. Of those, MTBE was detected in seven – five at less than 0.5 parts per billion, one with 1.4 ppb and one at 0.69 ppb.

  Muggett Hill Road resident Arlie Corday, whose well had MTBE at 0.69 ppb, said she cares for a grandchild in her home and was sickened to learn the child has been drinking a gasoline chemical.

  Resident Karen A. Spiewak was holding a picket sign when she told the board a recent state report suggests females in Charlton have a higher cancer rate than the state average, and sought confirmation the health board is pursuing more information.

  Health Inspector James Philbrook recently told a reporter that he is working with the state Department of Public Health on a “deep analysis” cancer cluster study.

  The work will look at cancer rates in Charlton and focus on areas near large gasoline spills to see if the types of cancers could be attributed to MTBE exposure.

  The study, he said, is expected to take at least six weeks.

  State Sen. Anne M. Gobi, D-Spencer, chairwoman of the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture, told the crowd she has drafted legislative language to “hold (Exxon’s) feet to the fire a little more.”

  “(The town) has been victimized by a giant corporation every single day for a generation,” she said.

  Resident Kathleen Walker, a former selectman who dealt with Exxon during her tenure, said she had a “radical suggestion” and then called for the health board to close the affected public schools until municipal water reaches the sites.

  The board took no action on her request.

  Closed-door negotiations between Charlton officials and ExxonMobil representatives to install new water lines to the schools began in April. It was revealed that talks were not producing results in October when selectmen received town meeting approval to spend up to $250,000 for mediation.

  Both sides have declared the mediation has failed.

  A statement from the oil industry giant Tuesday said, “ExxonMobil remains willing to engage in fruitful discussions with the Town of Charlton, and therefore does not believe it is appropriate to publicly discuss details of the negotiations.”

  Ms. Craver said selectmen will discuss the matter at their board meeting March 15 and both sides are set to meet in the DEP offices in Worcester on March 17.