DEC investigating possible well contamination in Yates
YATES – The state Department of Environmental Conservation is testing wells on Ward Road after residents complained cow manure contaminated their water supply, Town Supervisor John Belson said this afternoon.
Residents attended Thursday’s Town Board meeting to voice their concerns about the manure. A dairy farm spread on Ward Road and then a downpour hit in late August, causing significant manure runoff, Belson said.
The manure washed into ditches and Johnson Creek, and residents fear some of the manure got into their wells, Belson said.
There are five houses on Ward Road, which is located off Alps and Platten roads. They have shallow wells, Belson said. The town does not have a public waterline along the road.
Belson said samples have been taken of the well water. The DEC and the Orleans County Department of Health are both investigating, he said.
