State withdrew truck support before water was proved safe
By JENNIFER WILSON
News editor
The State of Kansas pulled a state-funded water truck and recommended Hillsboro begin pumping Reservoir water two days before the city received complete water test results from an Ohio laboratory — tests that would definitively say whether or not the water was safe to drink.
The recommendation, which came from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said that the blue-green algae bloom at Marion Reservoir had dissipated and the City of Hillsboro water plant was capable of filtering out any algae toxins.
But a day after the truck stopped rolling and the state claimed the algae was gone, blooms of microcystis exploded at several Reservoir locations — a fact confirmed by city employees and captured on camera.
And according to local officials and a letter from KDHE water director Karl Mueldener, the state never officially determined that the newly treated water was safe. The state simply set forth guidelines that Hillsboro could follow.
On Wednesday, June 25, a conference call between local and state officials led the state to end the county's emergency declaration, as well as halting the Kansas Department of Transportation truck that had been hauling in water to Hillsboro.
All this was done before final tests came in on Friday, June 27, that proved Hillsboro's water was safe to drink.
The city wanted hard numbers before turning the water back on: facts, not hunches, they say.
"As a customer, what would you want to see more?" said water plant employee Tom Siebert.
This news comes at the tail end of Marion County's recent water crisis, which began when a dangerous blue-green algae bloom exploded at Marion Reservoir. The algae can produce toxins that damage the body's nervous system and liver.
For three weeks, beginning June 6 and ending June 27, Hillsboro stopped treating Reservoir water and instead trucked in water around the clock from local sources. The city resumed pumping Reservoir water at 3 p.m. June 27.
The conference call on June 25 that ended the use of the KDOT truck involved a host of state employees, including representatives from KDHE, KDOT, and the state emergency management agency, as well as Hillsboro water technician Morgan Marler, Mayor Delores Dalke, and Michelle Abbott-Becker, director of county emergency management.
