— from Paul Kamin, Eastsound Water —
This afternoon there was a gasoline spill at the end of Seaview St in Eastsound. This is on the west side of the Orcas Airport. Emergency personnel are on the scene and additional response teams are coming from the mainland.
EWUA has four wells in the immediate vicinity of this gasoline spill.
All four of these wells have been shut off and are not in use. EWUA has contacted the Department of Ecology and the Department of Health, and will be working with these agencies to determine a water testing protocol for these wells, as groundwater contamination is certainly a risk in this situation.
We will only return these wells to service after we are 100% sure they meet all water quality standards.
EWUA has adequate storage to meet current needs, and additional sources that we will be able to use to continue to produce water. There has been no impact to water in our water lines, and storage tanks. The water at your tap should not be affected.
However, this is potentially a significant challenge that could persist for some time.
We will keep you appraised as we learn more.
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Thank you, Paul. I am so impressed and grateful that you are on this, and that you have our well being and safety in mind here in Eastsound UGA. There are many potential impacts of zoning things “light industrial” that involve toxics and explosives near high density low income housing and a peat bog wetland. The water pollution potential alone is scary enough; not to mention risk of a firey inferno. The County needs to be called to the carpet on poor planning and zoning, and on not following through with both enforcements of violations and oversight during the construction and permitting phases of these projects. WE need to rethink our zoning. We can’t have it both ways – high density housing and development next to projects that pose dangers like this. Time to rewrite the zoning to something far more intelligent and sustainable.