I just got three emails


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Monday August 21, 2023, 11:47 AM
Custer/Garfield 911 Dispatch

Advisory: BOIL WATER ORDER FOR MILES CITY STILL IN EFFECT AS OF 11:40 AM ON 8-21-23. click link for Info

Dear Nixle User,
The Miles City Public Water and the Custer County Water Sewer District are issuing a BOIL WATER ORDER for their systems due to inadequate disinfection at the water treatment plant.

BOIL ALL WATER BEFORE USIING.

Bring tap water to a rolling boil for one minute, and cool before using. Water filters may not be adequate, please boil all water for consumption. Boiled or bottle water should be used for drinking, making ice, washing dishes, brushing teeth, and preparing food until further notice.

BOIL WATER ORDER is in effect until further notice. Please advise all friends, elderly, neighbors and family members. Updates will be provided through NIXLE.




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Sent by Custer/Garfield 911 Dispatch
1010 Main St, Miles City, MT 59301

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Sad state of affairs there in the Cow Capital.

Why wasn't the Amber Alert system used to notify residents about contaminated water? Not everyone was notified, I found out at Walmart watching hoarders taking multiple carts full of bottle water...I smell a Communist in this notification system.

What was the cause of the bad water ?

Thanks, Frank, now I have that stupid song stuck in my head.

I heard the water treatment plant's chlorinator failed and that it has been repaired and the city is flushing the system out.

I thought I was signed up for nixle but apparently I wasn't. Fortunately, someone else told me. Bart said KYUS (radio?) had it as the THIRD piece of news on. KATL had nothing. The crappy city website has NOTHING. Fortunately, people called and told other people and some people got the word. Others I guess will get sick.

I wrote about it here in Billings when I found out. That alert system, which has "been around for years", is not widely publicized.

The city needs to do better in notifying people in town, and your local media should focus on emergencies rather than other news.

Too bad MC Star isn't what it used to be.

Oh, and by the way, it still hasn't been lifted at this time. Meaning something else is going on. Imagine that.

Don't y'all drink bud light anyway? Not even boiling will help that crap.

Seems like the water treatment plant was built just yesterday. The math says it was almost a half-century ago.

KATL DID announce the boil water issue, according to my source.
The 1973 paper is full of photos and reports on the new water plant. So, yeah, 50 years. Probably have to boil for a week until the pipes clear out. We have a big pot on the stove boiling away as I type.

Did someone mention...Bud Light?

Does anyone know the real story on the water problem? I saw something that says it's been going on for some time.Not filing report as required on water treatment. Notice on improper treatment.

CITY OF MILES CITY, PWSID: MT0000291
CITY OF MILES CITY
ATTN: TOM SPEELMON
Dear Mr. Speelmon,
This violation letter is to inform you that the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has documented that the City of Miles City is in violation of the Administrative Rules of Montana (ARM). The City of Miles City is in violation of ARM 17.38.208 for failure to maintain microbial disinfection. On August 20, 2023, the water treatment plant in Miles City failed to maintain a minimum chlorine residual of 0.2 mg/L at the point of entry to the distribution system. Under these rules, your public water supply must maintain a chlorine residual of 0.2 mg/L at the point of entry to the distribution system and treatment that is sufficient to ensure at least 99.9 percent (3-log) removal/inactivation of Giardia lamblia cysts and 99.99 percent (4-log) removal/inactivation of viruses.
The city of Miles City has been unable to consistently remain in compliance with the surface water treatment rules of the state of Montana. The city of Miles City has received two violations during the past two years for failing to maintain microbial disinfection prior to this violation. The Miles City water treatment plant has failed to maintain microbial disinfection on five separate occasions in the last two years. Miles City has also received violations for failing to monitor chlorine residual at the point of entry to the distribution system and for failing to notify DEQ when chlorine residual at the point of entry to the distribution system fell below 0.2 mg/L. The city of Miles City has recently been required to submit additional monitoring data because of its inability to remain in compliance with the surface water treatment rules. As outlined in the violation letter dated the 16th of February 2023, it is required that the additional data is submitted to DEQ by the 10th of the month following the monthly compliance period. The city of Miles City has failed to submit these reports within the required deadline on numerous occasions.
Due to the inability or your public water supply to remain in compliance, your system will now be referred to enforcement and will be subject to enforcement action.
This violation requires tier 1 public notification in the form of a boil water advisory, in accordance with ARM 17.38.239. You must provide public notice to persons served within 24 hours after you learn of the violation. Continued public notice will be required of your system until the system returns to compliance. Instructions for public notice have been provided with this letter, along with an example public notice document that contains the required language you must use to notify users. Within ten days of issuing the public notice, you must submit to DEQ, a representative copy of each type of notice distributed to the public. Please be sure to specify the delivery date and method used for each notice.
The city of Miles City has provided public notice through text messaging emergency alerts (Nexell), social media, and public radio. Certification of public notice has been provided for the emergency alerts (Nexell). Certification of public notice will be required for the remaining forms of notification. The public notice example provided in this letter will also need to be provided by mail or other method reasonably calculated to reach the public. Certification of posting this public notice will also need to be submitted to the department within 10 days of issuing the public notice.
If you disagree with the information stated above or have other relevant information, documentation, or any questions you would like to discuss, please contact me at (406) 444-7251 or [email protected].
Sincerely,
Josh Seekins
Surface Water Treatment Rule Manager
Public Water Supply Section
PO Box 200901, Helena, MT 59620-0901
406-444-7251, (fax) 406-444-1374, [email protected]
https://custercountymt.gov/.../boil-water-order-for.../

I bet the water is safe to drink in Glendive.

So, the scary water now, is the same as we’ve had for the last two years?
So nice that our local government has looked out for us so well….

None of these warnings mention symptoms to watch for.

I bought a dozen of Taco John's Tuesday Tacos and ate seven of them for dinner with three Margaritas. Would that build up an immunity?

No, but you might get the Tijuana Two-step!

If you want to see how bad things can get with a Montana municipal water system's compliance violations and its associated communication and politics, look no further than 75 miles up the road to Hysham.

This is a town that has not had drinking water for 8 months and does not expect to have drinkable water for another 3-6 months into the future. At certain points in time over the last 8 months, it was advised by the DEQ to not even bath or wash dishes in the water based on the level of contamination that was discovered.

Hysham has been without drinking water since late January (and arguably longer had communication been forthright) due to a lack of attention to maintenance and qualified personnel in the plant. The DEQ argued with the Town's elected leaders and staff for weeks, maybe months, over the point of even issuing required communication to its residents about its history of contaminated water.

When the Town's leaders finally agreed to have a town meeting to discuss with its residents the water, some elected council stood up and suggested the whole water contamination issue was an over exaggeration by the DEQ. It was the DEQ's fault for ringing the alarm bell on the water crisis (my interpretation and words of the meeting).

Some Town fathers even suggested they still drink the water and have never had health problems outside of this meeting. Instead of discussing how the water issue developed and how it was going to be corrected, they spent the meeting time loathing about the DEQ and its unreasonable requirements for water quality and standard. "Of course you know, our ancestors drank from the river and hand dug wells, so what's the big deal" type of crap.

The Town's leaders glossed over the fact that there was open contamination that allowed birds and rodents to access and defaecate into the Town's water supply for what appears may be a length of years. They also failed to discuss when and why the filtration system had failed and why it may have been bypassed without filtration into the Town's water supply.

Interestingly, the Town's Council also decided to continue its $95/monthly minimum charge per household up to so many gallons of water regardless of the quality of water. (Some have suggested this municipal charge is the 2nd highest water charge in the State of Montana for any town/city) Keep in mind, this was during the months where when you turn on your faucet on certain days and the "water" ran black with a sandy, murky film. Fun stuff to bath in.

After the meetings, when things began to heat up with the DEQ over lack of corrective action, certain members of the Town's council resigned and walked off the job. This in turn cost the Town months in getting the water supply back online since its efforts were focused on finding new leadership.

If the water problem in Miles City persists for longer than a week, I'd recommend its residents ask questions of the City Council regarding the water problem, solutions and timing for correction. Living without drinking water for a week is difficult, let alone for months or what could be a year or longer.

Use Hysham as an example if you get pushback or annoyance from the City's leaders or staff when you want to know when the water will be drinkable and back up. Hopefully, it'll be soon.

What does the mayor and city council have to say about this? The governor? Does it make sense to hand out property tax rebates when you can't provide safe drinking water for your citizens?

My neighbor works at the water treatment plant.

He told me that an employee turned off a switch to perform minor maintenance and forgot to turn it back on.

About five or six hours later, an alarm went off.

Regarding property tax rebates. Fixing Hysham's water system will not buy them enough votes.

From the Miles City Star:

Boil water advisory lifted

DERRICK CALHOUN

Star Staff Writer

The boil water advisory has been lifted for the City of Miles City and the Custer County Sewer District as of 9 a.m. Monday.

The City of Miles City and the Custer County Sewer District were notified of the advisory being lifted by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).

According to the notice released by Custer/Garfield 911 Dispatch Monday morning, disinfectant residuals have been confirmed and maintained in the distribution systems all week.

The notice adds that if you have been using the service in your residence/ business for things such as flushing toilets, washing clothes, showering etc. during the boil water advisory, there is no need to flush the water lines in the building/residence as normal use will have maintained a disinfection residual in those lines.

. . .