When vandalism hits, it’s never good. But when it affects a vital system, it can be extremely dangerous.

According to TribLive, in Hempfield Township, Pennsylvania, residents at the Pine View Manor Mobile Home Park are now dealing with a tainted water supply due to an unknown substance being dumped into a water tower that serves the community.

But, the vandalism doesn’t seem to be the only problem.

“I was surprised to hear about the vandalism,” said resident Destiny Kibe.

“But I’m used to drinking bottled water. I’ve never trusted the water supply here.”

Kibe didn’t learn the water tower had been vandalized until the Red Cross arrived on her porch with two cases of bottled water, but she wasn’t completely surprised to hear about the problem.

“The water here is always messed up. It happens all the time here,” said Kibe.

State police are on the hunt for suspects, and the State Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has ruled the water is safe to use. A pre-existing boil water advisory remains in effect.

A statement from the DEP says that testing found a higher than normal level of chlorine in the water from the tower, but it was still within acceptable standards.

The tower is privately owned and operated, and only supplies water to the Pine View Manor community.

 

An Interesting Twist

The boil water advisory was unrelated to the actual vandalism. Residents say that they received notice a month ago, advising them to boil their water before drinking due to inadequate disinfection levels.

“I moved in in January and noticed that the water smelled like sulfur,” said resident Andrea Ohler.

In addition to the water deliveries by the Red Cross, the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County supplied a large tank of safe water.

Ohler says that she doesn’t trust the tap water in the community, and that water service was shut off at her home for a few hours on Sunday. After that, she noticed that the water in her toilet was turning black.

“I called my landlord to ask what had happened but didn’t get a response. I found out by watching the news Sunday evening,” said Ohler.

“Now I’m afraid to use it at all. I took my kids to a relative’s house to shower.”

Community manager William Greenawalt says that he has been working with the DEP to fix the situation.

“We plan to build a fence around the pump house, where water treatment chemicals are kept,” said Greenawalt. He also mentioned that the water problems were a minor issue.

“That was just, the chemicals weren’t strong enough,” said Greenawalt.

Police say that suspects in the case could be charged with attempted homicide. ##

 

(Image credits are as shown above.)

 

Submitted by RC Williams to the Daily Business News for MHProNews.