Lawfirm hosts meeting on Millsboro well water

A Lewes lawfirm is mobilizing a force of professionals to examine the extent that wastewater from a Millsboro poultry plant has contaminated area groundwater.

Chase Brockstedt, a partner with Baird, Mandalas and Brockstedt, said he is assemblying a team that will include an environmental scientist and epidemiologist to help explain contaminants in local well water. He said he hopes a few more scientific experts will attend a 30-minute presentation followed by a question-and-answer session at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 8, in Millsboro Town Center, 322 Wilson Highway.

“The presentation will be about the severity of the plume and how it's traveling in the aquifer,” Brockstedt said.

Mountaire Farms recently offered to drill new wells for about 88 properties after the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control cited the plant for releasing wastewater with high levels of contaminants. Nitrates and fecal coliform both exceeded permitted amounts. Brockstedt said some samples revealed that fecal coliform amounts were 5,500 percent above the permitted levels.

A Mountaire spokesman said the plant fired employees responsible with releasing the toxins; the company is also developing a new wastewater treatment plant for the Millsboro facility.

“We're not convinced that digging a deeper well is the right fix,” Brockstedt said. “We have contamination that's been going on since 2003.”

So far, Brockstedt said, he has spoken to about two dozen people about their contaminated wells. Some have shared stories of gastro-intestinal problems, and, he said, concerns about cancer and birth defects have been raised.

Brockstedt said he welcomes residents who want to know more about contaminants in their well water.

“We want folks in the community to know we're here,” he said. “We want to speak with one loud, unified force.”

For more information, visit www.mountairewaterpollution.com or call 645-2262.