News from the Districts - Cumberland

Whether it’s about levels of lead in drinking water at Yarmouth schools or concerns about well water levels on Long Island, Local Health Officers in Cumberland Public Health District are fielding questions about water quality and safety in their communities. Cumberland County was also recently included in the areas in Maine affected by drought, according to assessments of the State Drought Task Force.

Maine CDC and the Cumberland County Emergency Management Agency partnered to organize an information and outreach session on water issues for Local Health Officers on Tuesday. David Braley, Senior Environmental Hydrogeologist with the Maine CDC Drinking Water Program, and Mike Koza from the Portland Water District, presented.

The event was the first in a series of information and networking meetings aimed at strengthening relationships and support between Maine CDC, Cumberland Emergency Management Agency and Local Health Officers in Cumberland, many of whom are volunteers.

Lead concerns

Public drinking water has been in the news recently due to the crisis in Flint, Michigan. It is important for the people of Maine to know that their public drinking water is well-regulated and safe to drink. Kenneth Albert, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Maine CDC, recently wrote an op ed about lead in Maine. Read it at https://www.centralmaine.com/2016/03/28/maine-is-not-flint-michigan/

Maine CDC, DEP Lead Training Exercise to Respond to Chemical Spill Impacting Drinking Water

In early February, 43 people participated in a full-scale tabletop training exercise where the scenario was a chemical spill Into the Androscoggin River. The event took place at the Topsham Public Safety Building. 

Participants included: Maine CDC Drinking Water Program; Maine Department of Environmental Protection; Maine Emergency Management Agency; Cumberland and Sagadahoc County Emergency Management Agencies; the U.S. Department of Environmental Protection; the Brunswick/Topsham Water District; the Maine Rural Water Association; the Brunswick and Topsham Fire Departments; the Brunswick Sewer Department; Topsham Public Works; the Bath Water District; the Topsham Police Department; the U.S. Coast Guard and Mid Coast Hospital.

In this scenario, a fuel tanker and a truck containing compressed natural gas cylinders were involved in a traffic accident and spilled diesel fuel into a small stream near water supply wells of the Brunswick/Topsham Water District, threatening the wells and the nearby Androscoggin River.  Release of propane gas created a dangerous situation at the crash scene, delaying cleanup of the spilled fuel.  Later in the day, another hypothetical traffic accident occurred in a different part of town, which resulted in a water main break near Mid Coast Hospital.  This combination of unexpected events created challenges to protect public safety, maintain service to water customers and mitigate impacts to the environment.

The origin and planning of these exercises resulted from collaboration between the Maine CDC Drinking Water Program and Maine DEP’s Division of Technical Services and Division of Response Services following the January 9, 2014 Elk River chemical spill in West Virginia.  The recent Flint, Michigan water supply lead contamination incident was also highlighted at the training to emphasize the importance of risk communications during any incident that may threaten drinking water quality.

For more information on this training, contact Michael.Abbott@maine.gov or Erika.Bonenfant@maine.gov.

Environmental health staff recognized

Maine law and rules require that before a Health Inspection license to operate can be issued, all restaurants, hotels, inns, B&Bs, campgrounds, youth camps and fairs and festivals must show that they have safe drinking water and proper wastewater disposal. Maine CDC’s Health Inspection, Drinking Water and Subsurface Wastewater programs are co-located within the Division of Environmental Health, which allows for fast turn-arounds for routine applications.  For complicated business proposals, technical teams representing all three programs can be assembled quickly to find solutions for difficult drinking water or wastewater challenges.

Governor LePage recently received a letter from a business owner opening a new restaurant in rural Maine.  This business person wrote that he expected that the process would be equivalent to “…pushing a boulder uphill.”  He went on to say that “… to the contrary, these people bent over backwards to help us get the forms complete, inspect the water source, wastewater system, and the building to get us open as quickly as possible.”

As a result, Governor LePage invited the three staff named in the letter, Haig Brochu from the Drinking Water Program, Sandi Clark from the Health Inspection Program and Jim Jacobsen from the Subsurface Wastewater Unit, to his office to personally thank them for their work. They were joined by DHHS Commissioner Mary Mayhew, Maine CDC Director and Chief Operating Officer Kenneth Albert and Health Inspection Supervisor Rebecca Walsh. Governor LePage presented each staff member with a Governor’s coin and thanked them for their assistance.

Celebrate Drinking Water Week: May 5-11, 2013

This week is National Drinking Water Week– a time to highlight the importance of a safe, reliable drinking water supply to our overall quality of life – from public health protection and fire suppression to the critical role it plays in supporting the economy.


Maine CDC works together with water utilities and water system owners and operators to protect and conserve our precious drinking water sources. Nearly 850,000 Maine residents and visitors are provided safe and secure drinking water each day by more than 1,900 public drinking water systems, ranging in size from a drinking fountain at a roadside rest area to a large metropolitan drinking water system.

If your drinking water is supplied by a public water system, you can be assured that the water you receive is regularly monitored and tested to ensure that it meets federal and state drinking water standards and is safe to drink.

If you rely on your own private well for drinking water, the Maine CDC recommends that well owners test their water annually for bacteria, nitrate, and nitrite and every three to five years for arsenic, radon, uranium, lead, and fluoride.

For more information about private wells, visit http://wellwater.maine.gov. For information about public water systems, visit www.medwp.com.

Protect Your Groundwater Day

Nearly 2/3 of Maine people get their drinking water from groundwater, so we have a large stake in protecting our groundwater quality and quantity in Maine. We can all use this day to begin doing our part for protecting one of our most important natural resources — our groundwater!

 

Some things you can do to help protect our groundwater:

• Properly maintain your septic system: make sure to have your septic tank pumped every 3 to 5 years and check for signs that your septic system is not working
• Handle gasoline, motor oil, fertilizers, pesticides and other hazardous chemicals with care, making sure not to dump them on the ground or pour them down the sink. When you’re done with them, dispose of them properly at a recycling center
• Inspect your heating oil tank and its piping to make sure it’s not leaking, starting to corrode or rust, or in danger of tipping over
• Don’t throw away or flush unused or unwanted medications down the drain. Instead, properly and safely dispose of them by using Maine’s Safe Medicine Disposal for ME free medication mailback program

Public drinking water systems regularly monitor and test the drinking water they provide, but if you have your own well, you should have your water tested every year for bacteria, nitrates and nitrites, and every 3-5 years for naturally occurring arsenic, radon, and uranium.

 

For more information on Protect Your Groundwater Day, or to learn more ways you can protect groundwater, visit http://www.ngwa.org/Events-Education/groundwater-day/Pages/default.aspx. For information on public water systems visit the Drinking Water Program website at www.medwp.com. For more information on private wells, visit http://wellwater.maine.gov.

State Fluoridation Quality Award

Maine is one of nine states to receive the 2011 State Fluoridation Quality Award, jointly awarded May 1 by the Association of State & Territorial Dental Directors, the American Dental Association, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The award is in recognition of maintaining the quality of fluoridation as determined by the ability of fluoridating systems to conduct monitoring and consistently maintain optimal fluoride levels.  To meet the standard for this award, more than 90% of Maine’s fluoridating systems documented that they maintained their levels for at least nine months in 2011.  Maine has 66 public water systems that provide fluoridated water to 133 communities throughout the state, serving 80% of people who use public water supplies.

Drinking Water Week

This week is National Drinking Water Week– a time to highlight the importance of a safe, reliable drinking water supply to our overall quality of life – from public health protection and fire suppression to the critical role it plays in supporting the economy.  

It’s easy to take our drinking water for granted, but every day around the world, thousands of people die from lack of access to clean water.  Maine has abundant and safe sources of drinking water and we all work hard to keep it this way.  

To learn more about what you can do to protect your drinking water visit: http://water.epa.gov/action/protect/index.cfm    

To learn more about public drinking water systems in Maine, visit www.medwp.com.

May Awareness Campaigns

May is a busy month for awareness campaigns. It’s National Arthritis Awareness Month, Asthma Awareness Month, Healthy Vision Month, and Hepatitis Awareness Month.

Drinking Water Week is May 1-7. Followed by Women’s Health Week, which starts on Mother’s Day (May 8).

As the weather warms up and people spend more time outside, we also run into Lyme Disease Awareness Month and Skin Cancer Awareness Month. Heat Safety Awareness Day is May 27 and Recreational Water Illness and Injury Prevention Week is May 23-29.

May is also both High Blood Pressure Education Month and Stroke Awareness Month.

World Water Day

World Water Day is held every year on March 22 to highlight the importance of the availability of clean freshwater and the key role that water plays around the world.

This year’s theme is “Water for Cities: Responding to the Urban Challenge,” designed to bring awareness to the rapid growth of the world’s population in urban areas and the increasing demand for clean freshwater.

In Maine, we are fortunate to have abundant, clean, and safe drinking water. However, in many parts of the world, access to safe, clean water is scarce. According to UNICEF estimates, over 884 million people lack access to safe drinking water worldwide.

If you have a private well, make sure you know your well is safe. Test your water. For more information on testing your well, visit http://wellwater.maine.gov.

For information on public water systems in Maine, visit the Maine CDC Drinking Water Program.

Protect Your Groundwater

It's National Protect Your Groundwater Day. Nearly 2/3 of Maine people get their drinking water from groundwater, so we have a large stake in protecting our groundwater quality and quantity in Maine. We can all use this day to begin doing our part for protecting one of our most important natural resources — our groundwater!

Some things you can do to help protect our groundwater:

• Properly maintain your septic system: make sure to have your septic tank pumped every 3 to 5 years and check for signs that your septic system is not working
• Handle gasoline, motor oil, fertilizers, pesticides and other hazardous chemicals with care, making sure not to dump them on the ground or pour them down the sink. When you’re done with them, dispose of them properly at a recycling center
• Inspect your heating oil tank and its piping to make sure it’s not leaking, starting to corrode or rust, or in danger of tipping over
• Don’t throw away or flush unused or unwanted medications down the drain. Instead, properly and safely dispose of them by using Maine’s Safe Medicine Disposal for ME free medication mailback program

For more information on Protect Your Groundwater Day, or to learn more ways you can protect groundwater, visit http://www.ngwa.org/public/PYGD/pygd.aspx. For information on public water systems visit the Maine CDC Drinking Water Program website at www.medwp.com. For more information on private wells, visit http://wellwater.maine.gov.

What this warm, dry summer may mean for Maine's water supplies

We’ve been fortunate to enjoy sunny, warm, dry weather this summer, but the limited amount of rainfall we’ve received can have an impact on Maine’s water resources, especially on our water supplies.

The water for public drinking water systems and home wells comes from rainfall, so the less rainfall we get, the less water that is available from our wells. It's always a good practice to use water efficiently, but drier than average summers like this one should serve as a reminder to us all to be conscious of our water usage and encourage us to take steps to conserve water.

Some things you can do to save water:

• Wash only full loads of dishes and clothes or lower the water settings for smaller loads.
• Limit the use of lawn and garden spinklers and only water your lawn or garden during the cool morning hours, as opposed to midday, to reduce evaporation.
• Check your home for leaks and repair any that you find. Leaking faucets and pipes can amount to hundreds of gallons of wasted water every day.
• Even out your use of water at your home over the course of the day. This can help sustain your water supply, prevent a temporary shortage, and damage to your well pump.

For more information on how you can conserve water, visit EPA’s Water Sense page at http://www.epa.gov/owm/water-efficiency/pubs/simple_steps.html

Drinking Water Week

This week is National Drinking Water Week-– a time to recognize the important role that safe, reliable drinking water plays in our everyday lives. It’s easy to take our drinking water for granted, but every day around the world, thousands of people die from lack of access to clean water. Maine has abundant and safe sources of drinking water and we all work hard to keep it this way.

Three things you can do to help keep your drinking water clean:

1. Handle gasoline, motor oil, fertilizers, pesticides and other hazardous chemicals with care, making sure not to dump them on the ground or pour them down the sink. When you’re done with them, dispose of them properly at a recycling center.
2. Maintain your septic system and make sure it is in good working condition. Failing septic systems are one of the major sources of nitrates in surface water supplies.
3. Encourage your neighbors to take care of their septic tanks, petroleum, and chemicals with as much care as you do

For more information, see this press release.