For years, Elaine Hunt has been a fixture at the monthly Sampson County commissioners meetings. Finally, at this month’s meeting, held Monday night, she got the news she’s long waited for. Hunt’s community, on Old Warsaw Road near Turkey, will finally be connected to county water.
Public Works Director Mark Turlington reported the county has received a conditional grant, for up to $3,343,750 from the Environmental Protection Agency.
As part of the process, Turlington said he will need permission from the homeowners in that community, and they’ll also have to agree to pay their monthly water bill. He said he didn’t think there would be any problems, and we’re pretty sure there won’t be any issues getting the community to agree to connect to the service.
We applaud Elaine Hunt and her neighbors for their tenacity and their perseverance in getting this needed service to their community.
Many Old Warsaw Road residents have forever chemicals, or PFAS, in their water supply and have had to resort to receiving treated water from the state as a result. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of manufactured chemicals that have been shown to cause health problems in humans and animals. PFAS can lead to reproductive effects like decreased fertility or increased high blood pressure in pregnant women, developmental effects or delays in children, including low birth weight, accelerated puberty, bone variations, or behavioral changes, increased risk of some cancers, can negatively affect the body’s immune system, interfere with natural hormones, and increase cholesterol and obesity. In short, they’re dangerous, and they’re found everywhere, from drinking water to the food we eat.
Brenda Atkinson is one of Hunt’s neighbors whose water has been found to contain PFAS. She spoke during the public comment portion of last month’s commissioners meeting. “[The state] called and said, ‘Do not drink or cook with the water.’ They provided me with water. I’m thankful, but I had to put it in my laundry room. Do you know how hard it is to remember that you can’t cook with water from your faucet?”
“When we take a shower,” she continued, “we try not to let the water run too long because it smells like rotten eggs in the house.”
Like Hunt, she pleaded with the commissioners to bring county water to their community. And it finally worked. Sure, it will be a long process before the people who live in those homes are actually able to safely use the water from their faucets, but the grant announcement is a huge step in the right direction.
It shows that if you show up to your local government meetings and plead your case, and stay in front of them, eventually, your needs may be met. If the residents hadn’t spoken up, who knows how long it would have taken for them to have access to a clean water supply?
We applaud the public works department and commissioners as well, for listening and for taking action. They have done their very best to address this issue, with several commissioners even asking at the October meeting what they could personally do to help. Without their willingness, the community probably would have continued to suffer and be inconvenienced.
Connecting to the county water supply isn’t just a convenience for these folks, however. It could be a life-saving measure.
So when Mark Turlington announced he had good news for the commissioners and the community, it was good news indeed.