Dear Spencerville Resident;

On Friday August 14 I met with the Township CAO, Dave Grant, who informed me that he had been contacted by the Kingston office of the Ministry of Environment, Conservation & Parks who informed him that they had heard from a resident of Spencerville who had received water test results indicating the presence of E-coli.

The Ministry provided advice to the resident (contact your local health unit/ do not drink the water), and contacted CAO Grant, but did not provide any names, citing privacy issues as the Township does not provide the water to the residents.

CAO Grant indicated to me that he and the Ministry were putting a plan in place to try to determine the source of contamination and that they would meet again on Monday, August 17, along with Township consultants JP2G and the Leeds Grenville Lanark Health Unit to finalize a plan of action.

As a result of the Monday, August 17 meeting, plans were put in place for closed circuit camera inspection of the sewage connection system in the neighbourhood of the affected properties which were now known.

As of that point and as late as Wednesday, August 19, the Township had not been directly contacted by any resident informing us of E-coli test results in their water samples submitted to the health unit.
On Thursday, August 20, the Township received contact information from MECP for the five properties who has received “overgrown, unsafe to drink” test results from water samples submitted for testing. Also, on Thursday, August 20, the first resident submitted their private well water test results to CAO Grant.

On that same day the closed circuit camera inspection of the sewage collection system in the neighbourhood of the infected properties was reviewed. The camera work revealed a couple of defects in the lateral connection to the main on Charles St.. Ontario One Call has been asked to provide priority locates and once received the two locations will be excavated and the defects repaired, although there is no certainty that these defects are the source of the well water contamination.

Also, on Thursday, August 20, the Township posted a “Letter to Residents” on the Township website. On Friday, August 21, hard copies of the letter will be provided to Canada Post for delivery to all residents in the Village of Spencerville.

The Mayor and Council regard the presence of E-coli in private wells as a very serious issue and every step will be taken to ensure that the Township sewage collection system is not the source of contamination.

In the meantime, any resident experiencing problems with their private well water supply can pickup bottled water at the Village Pantry by providing their name and address.

Sincerely,
Mayor Pat Sayeau