Burton residents sound familiar alarm about dirty drinking water

Don Ernakovich moved into his home on West Fourth Street in Lewes in 1998.

“We were excited retirees looking forward to living in beautiful Lewes. We had a jacuzzi bathtub, and I took my first bath with brown bubbles,” he said. “It’s been going on for 27 years.”

Ernakovich was among the residents from the Burton Subdivision who packed a joint meeting of Lewes Mayor and Council and the Board of Public Works July 28. Their concerns were familiar, and as Ernakovich said, decades old.

Century-old iron pipes are decaying under the streets of the Burton Subdivision, turning drinking water brown right out of the faucet.

Brenda Afzal even illustrated the problem, placing a clean water filter from her house next to a dirty one and a jar of discolored tap water.

“We’ve never said this is about health; this is about dirty water. I wouldn’t put my little granddaughter in this dirty water,” she said. “We spend $5,000 replacing filters on a regular basis. I know at least six people in our community who have done that and others who are doing bottled water. We know that’s not an answer to this problem.”

Burton Subdivision includes Johnson Avenue, Burton Avenue, Paynter Avenue, DuPont Avenue and parts of Park Avenue and West Fourth Street.

BPW President Tom Panetta said the last water samples taken from six different sites May 9, showed no water quality concerns.

The next testing was scheduled for July 31. It will take several weeks to get the results, according to Robin Davis, BPW general manager.

Panetta said BPW has installed a flusher that keeps water circulating all day. He said they will install an all-season flusher in a month or so.

A Burton Subdivision water task force, comprising the city, BPW, engineers from GMB and residents, meets monthly to provide updates on plans to first replace pipes under West Fourth Street, Johnson and Parks Avenues.

Panetta said the key to getting the project done is prioritization.

“We have a 10-year capital plan,” Panetta said. “It would cost $100 million to 200 million to replace all the pipes at the same time. So it cannot be done in 10 years. We’re paying for the sins of the past.”

Some residents claimed the city has neglected the infrastructure in the Burton Subdivision, because, historically, mostly African American residents lived there.

Panetta told residents, if you see something in the water, say something.

“If you’re normally not having discoloration or it gets worse, that’s what we’re looking for,” he said.

Mayor Amy Marasco said the city is committed, in partnership with BPW, to applying for State Revolving Fund grants toward the cost of pipe replacement.

“I don’t know what happened in the past, but it’s not going to continue. So, you have my word,” Marasco said.