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Health officials advise some residents to boil their water

News & Advance - 6/15/2017

Bedford County

ROANOKE - State health officials have told residents of a Bedford County trailer park to boil tap water for drinking and cooking after a utility breakdown.

The precautionary advisory was issued Tuesday to a portion of the 72 households at the Hardy Road Trailer Park, according to the Virginia Office of Drinking Water.

The system, which distributes treated well water, has passed routine tests, including a monthly bacteria assessment May 29, but residents recently reported pink water or no water at all, said Jeffrey Wells, field director for the Danville branch of the state water office.

More than 11 years ago, severe utility issues at the park resulted in a prison term for owner D.J. Cooper. Cooper was sentenced to 27 months in prison and fined $270,000 in 2005 for illegal discharges into a creek from the sewage treatment system at the park, located east of Vinton.

The drinking water issue did not appear to approach the sewage issue in seriousness.

Assuming equipment repair, flushing and testing go as planned, the boil notice could be lifted Monday or Tuesday, Wells said.

As long as the notice is in effect, the tap water could cause stomach or intestinal illness if consumed without boiling or treatment with liquid household bleach or water purification tablets, the notice said. Wells said no one had reported becoming ill from the water.

Vickie "Michelle" Dooley, a park resident, worried Wednesday about a baby girl in her home.

"We boiled some water. It still looks dingy," she said. "There's no way I'm using this water to make her bottles."

Ruth Cooper, D.J. Cooper's wife, said Wednesday she had no information about thewater issue. Their son, Al Cooper, the park manager, did not respond to a message left at his office.