E Coli Contaminated Well Water; Alden, NY (Buffalo, Bath: homes, rent)

[itSmellsBAD]

To all you people wanting to buy a home in the NY countryside, read below. The Dairy factory farms are killing all the wells in NY and now HOG factory farms are marching north! Enjoy


The Buffalo News: Eastern Suburbs: E. coli found in water from wells in Alden

E. coli bacteria has been found in water that comes from wells in the
Town of Alden, a discovery that is concerning town and Erie County
officials.
According to correspondence from the county Health Department that was
read during Monday’s Town Board meeting, a “substantial increase in
positive E. coli samples in the existing private water supply” was
found after water quality was tested.
The letter categorized the discovery as a “real public health
concern.”
Councilman Bill Weber said the discovery was made after the town urged
residents of proposed Water District No. 5 to have their water quality
tested because the U.S. Department of Agriculture said the town could
potentially receive greater funding for the proposed water district if
there was documentation of a water quality issue.
“There is a very serious need for improved water supply,“ the
letter reads. “This is a health factor-based need.”
“This is for people in the southern part of the Alden area who are on
private wells,“ County Public Health Engineer Tom Casey said. “Not
for people who use Erie County water.”
While Casey did say the county found an increase in the amount of E.
coli in residents’ well systems, he was not overly concerned about the
health risk to Alden residents.
“If you ingest [the water] without preparing it, like boiling it, it
is a potential problem,” Casey said. “This can create a problem,
but it’s not that serious unless you come in direct contact with it.”

Bathing with the contaminated water or using it to wash dishes in sudsy
water should not cause a health concern, according to Casey.
Residents of Water District No. 5 who chose to have their water tested
by the county were informed of the test results. However, Weber said
other residents have not had their water tested.
“They are flirting with disaster,” he said. “They can have their
water tested by the county at a reasonable rate. I think it is around
$15.”
Currently, Metzger believes, at least 20 percent of the town’s
population is without usable water. In addition, Metzger said the northeast
end of Marilla, which abuts the southeast portion of Alden, is also in
desperate need of usable water.
Funding for the proposed water district will not only come from grants
and federal assistance, but also from town taxes, said Metzger and
Weber.

[BuffaloTransplant]

Gees, a small town and they only have a small part of town w/out county water. (I live here & have friends in Marilla.) If you notice, at the 3rd paragraph, this is all in the area of "proposed water district 5". If there is any problem, the US and State money to put in COUNTY water goes up.

What you are NOT telling people is that the south end of the county found it very COSTLY to go on the county water last year... personally, I think is is for cost savings.

Add to that the fact the water table is way down this year...

Give all the facts.

I have a well; however, we are in a water district from back in the 1950s.

[itSmellsBAD]

The wells are being contaminated from MANURE SLURRY spread by INDUSTRIAL DAIRY FARMS. The fact is that the Erie County Health Department is VERY CONCERNED about E Coli in well water. I wouldn't call "20% of the homes in Alden are without safe drinking water" a small part of the town. The other sad fact is that YOU, the taxpayer, will have to pick up the costs of getting clean water to your homes (unless you are a Dairy Farmer)....not the dairy farmer who ruined your well. Thank them the next to you see his massive manure slurry tankers running non stop, leaking on the street, heading towards the fields to spread his poison near your back yard and well water source. Enjoy a fresh glass of well water in Alden and Marilla, NY........just remeber to BOIL it first and thank your local factory farmer.

[SM1972]

Considering the dairy farms were here long before everyone came out and built their 3000 square foot houses, I don't see the problem. We rent our house from a dairy farmer. His family has farmed here for quite awhile and the property we are on was a farm when Marilla was settled, over 100 years ago.

I cannot understand how people can build near a farm, then complain about the smell and the manure, much like I cannot understand people who move into the subdivisions near the airport and then crab about the noise.

Seriously, Marilla and outlying Alden (I highly doubt they are fertilizing anything in the town area proper) have been farm communities for ages.

You expect to drink milk, but don't expect any farming to go on. Perhaps you should thank the dairy farmer for continuing to get up at 4 am, 365 days a year and work until at least 8 pm every night, at a job that does not really bring in all that much money (my landlords wife has to work a "regular" job) and takes a huge toll on his body so that you don't have to pay a huge amount for milk like they do in the Carolinas and Florida, where there are no local dairy farms.

For those wanting to move to the WNY countryside: If there is a field or farm near the property you are looking at, perhaps you could consider what that means, as far as smell, etc. BEFORE you move there. Not complain about it afterwards.

And PS--the dairy farmer here? He PAID to have county water lines put in the property several years ago.

[BuffaloTransplant]

SM1972 -- Glad you posted. Itsmellsbad seems to hate all farming. I back up to a farm ( fields, not cattle) and it does get manure as fertilizer. If we hated it, we'd have moved long ago. My husband's family were farmers and I have great respect for them and their work ethic. it is hard.

Remember, the article cited by itsmellsbad was over a year back and it was a year after the brouha in the far southtowns (Colden, Boston) when going on County water would have raised the taxes enormously. Several towns opted NOT to go on County Water after getting their own wells tested (not the state testing).... the article was to force the issue of the water district. Lots of Marilla is on County Water even near the farms ( have a friend out by Clinton who is); most of Alden is.

I have yet to see itsmells bad to say anything positive on our terrific agricultual areas.