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Package Causes Water Scare: UPDATE ON SUSPICIOUS DUMPING IN RESERVOIR IN CONNECTICUT RESERVOIR
FOX NEWS HARTFORD CONNECTICUT/CTNOW.COM ^
| 03/26/02
| By COLIN POITRAS, Courant Staff Writer
Posted on 03/26/2002 3:08:31 AM PST by RaceBannon
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| CONNECTICUT |
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Package Causes Water Scare
March 26, 2002
By COLIN POITRAS, Courant Staff Writer
MIDDLEFIELD -- State and federal authorities were thrown into high alert Monday after a man was seen tossing a suspicious package into Middletown's public water supply off Route 66.
The package - described as a bound plastic bag - was quickly recovered by state police divers and sent to a state lab for testing.
Preliminary tests showed it contained an unidentified "starchy" substance that is not considered a health threat, Middletown Mayor Domenique Thornton said. More tests on both the package and the water supply are planned for today.
Thornton assured residents their public water is safe to drink.
"The water supply has been secured," State Police spokesman Sgt. Paul Vance said Monday night. "There are no contamination concerns whatsoever." The plastic bag, recovered about 15 feet from shore, did not show any signs of punctures or signs that it leaked, he said.
Middletown officials immediately shut down the filtration plant at the Mount Higby Reservoirs after state police alerted them to a possible contamination threat at about 5:30 p.m.
The reservoirs, although located in Middlefield, are owned by Middletown and serve as a backup water supply for all of the city's 44,000 residents, including thousands of students at Wesleyan University and hundreds of juvenile delinquents housed at Long Lane and the new Connecticut Juvenile Training School.
The city's water system was drawing directly from the city's main underground aquifer as an extra precaution Monday night. Thornton said that system will remain in place until all the testing is done and the reservoir filtration plant is turned back on.
There was no interruption of water service at any time Monday, officials said.
A passing motorist called police at about 5:30 p.m. after seeing a man pull off the road and toss something into the south side of the reservoir, Vance said. The report immediately sent local, state and federal officials into full alert.
Investigators with the FBI, state police, state Department of Environmental Protection and state Department of Public Health descended on the scene. Middlefield firefighters, water department officials and Middletown and Meriden police also responded.
Monday evening, a state police helicopter used an infrared imaging camera to scan the woods and shores of the reservoirs on the Middletown-Middlefield town line, but found nothing.
"Since 9/11, we are exercising due caution and any incidents involving a public water supply or watershed are going to be the subject of a full criminal investigation," Vance said.
Authorities were still looking for the man who tossed the package late Monday night. He was last seen driving a dark, full-sized car with tinted windows, police said.
Word of the possible water contamination spread quickly in Middletown on Monday night. While some officials and residents quietly criticized authorities for not alerting people sooner, Middletown Fire Chief Robert Ross said he was comfortable with the way the incident was handled.
The city recently installed new fencing around parts of the reservoir in order to improve security, but it apparently did not prevent the man from tossing the plastic bag into the water.
Courant Staff Writer Stephen Busemeyer contributed to this story.
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TOPICS: Breaking News; News/Current Events; US: Connecticut
KEYWORDS: connecticut; hartford; suspiciouspackage
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To: McGruff; RaceBannon
Gruffie, RB wants one of those for top of his pickup ... add a little pizzazz to the next FReep!
To: LoneGOPinCT
I'd be happy to refill your empty bottles with water from my River ... I'll even make a special run to Hamburg Cove if you like. &;-)
To: mewzilla
And preliminary tests showed that it was an unidentified starch substance... What prelim tests were those, I wonder? And where were they done? And by whom? The locals, who I suspect may be in way over their heads (if this was anything nasty)?Perhaps they dipped their shirt collars in it and then ironed them. Yep, that is starchy allright!
43
posted on
03/26/2002 6:04:06 AM PST
by
Flint
To: LoneGOPinCT; 2Trievers
I have driven the road from Lyman Orchards past this resivoir so many times I do not think I could count them. Thefencing is located along Route 66. There is access to these resivoirs from several places where absolutely no one would be in a position to obserb. People ask how such a complete idiot could get elected in Middletown, CT. I have one clrear answer, Wesleyan University. This nominally Methodist University is a true cess pool of liberalism. It also infects some nearby towns.
By the way I was by the resivoir about a two weeks ago. Security there is non existant.
Stay well - Stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown
44
posted on
03/26/2002 6:21:09 AM PST
by
harpseal
To: RaceBannon
So I guess we can cross this one off the list of reasons for all the zig-zagging drivers on the Connecticut turnpike.
45
posted on
03/26/2002 6:28:15 AM PST
by
lds23
To: Ditter
Or flour. Whatever, this has a big "yikes!" factor, don't you think?
To: RaceBannon
If it was something meant to contaminate the water system, putting it in a water proof plastic bag was pretty dumb. If it turns out to be something not healthy, thank goodness for dumb people.
To: FreedomPoster
BTW - as a part of my civil defense preparedness, there is now a blue polypropylene 55 gallon drum lurking in my crawl space. With an appropriate amount of bleach added at fill time. Something all may want to consider. Floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes can all disrupt water supplies - it doesn't have to be a terrorist. We have a well. (If anyone remembers, God said spread out. ) We attached a hand pump we bought from Lehmans non-electric cataloge. No matter what happens in the city reservior (or the power grid) , we can still pump fresh water. If the water shoud get ground contamination, a jug of bleach is pretty easy to store. (Vinigar made from wild apple trees is also a good disinfectant in harder times.)
To: harpseal
Thanks for the advertising Harpsie ... &;-)
May I beg to differ, blaming this on Wesleyan? I think it will be found that is some material that a guy unloaded becasue he missed the "HAZMAT collection day" at his local landfill. While they were down there, they should have looked for the hundreds of murder weapons that have been tossed in there over the decades.
To: RaceBannon
Preliminary tests showed it contained an unidentified "starchy" substance that is not considered a health threat Would you believe the remnants of a Big Mac?
Well, at least the authorities are on the ball!
To: McGruff
This is the HTML formatting police. 
To: RaceBannon
I wonder, is poisoning a water supply actually a crime at this time? From reading the following snip from a Waterbury Republican article, it crossed my mind that the person throwing starch in the water was politically motivated! See online March 26, 2002 article:
"Plan to test deadly drivers clears panel"--
"Reflecting the times, especially since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, lawmakers also overwhelmingly adopted a bill Monday that defined terrorism and laid out a schedule of penalties for it. ...Among acts of terrorism defined in the proposal, damaging public transportation property and contaminating public water supply with a chemical, biological or radioactive agent are two. "
The article has lots more interesting stuff for CT residents but the snip above is specific to the "incident" at the reservoir. Thanks for the post RB, watching for updates.
To: RaceBannon
Reasonable explanation: Poacher throwing out bait during the daytime for his upcoming late-night catfishing expedition.
Tinfoil explanation: Al-Queda cell member doing a 'test-run'.
To: The KG9 Kid
Reasonable explanation: Poacher throwing out bait during the daytime for his upcoming late-night catfishing expedition.Tinfoil explanation: Al-Queda cell member doing a 'test-run'.
Sorry, but I disagree with your assessment.
(1) Hopefully, IF they catch this guy AND it turns out he was preparing for a late-night catfishing expedition he will be taken to court, fined $10,000 and face jail time.......much the same as the other idiot who ran backwards through the lines at Atlanta airport resulting in massive delays and backlogs across the country.
(2) Hopefully, IF they catch this guy AND it turns out he was preparing to test the vigilance of the authorities so as to poison the populace they will give him a quick trial and then execute him.
I see NO tinfoil explanation in all this. We are at war.
To: mewzilla
#4, because the guy who was supposed to pick up the coke/heroin works as a security guard?
To: lowbridge
Thanks, I added that to my profile page.
56
posted on
03/26/2002 8:13:27 AM PST
by
McGruff
To: RaceBannon
My wife drives over the Reservoir which provides most of Hartford it's water.
It's huge! holds 30.3 billion gallons of the wet stuff.
There is almost no security and anyone at night could contaminate it and be on the way with no one knowing the better.
She works 2nd shift and only saw some water department vechicles a couple of times during high alert.
To: LoneGOPinCT
How long will bottled water last if unopened? Longer than you will.
58
posted on
03/26/2002 8:40:25 AM PST
by
El Gato
To: VA Advogado
you again, but i didnt know you were one of the breaking news police. good inputs... /
To: RaceBannon
Wonder if it was a trial run to test security.
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