Ringwood's slow alert
Last December, a leak was found by a state investigator at a gas station in Ringwood. Yet even though borough health officials were immediately notified, nearby residents were not informed about the potential hazard for almost a year.
Ringwood Mayor Allan Van Eck acknowledges the problem and says the borough needs to put a plan in place "so this never happens again."
He's right. Other towns would be wise to learn from Ringwood's experience.
The borough would have served the residents much better if it had immediately notified them about the gasoline leak. Then they could have made the choice of whether to have their wells tested right away. ConocoPhillips, the company that owns the Mobil station, began testing the neighboring wells several months later - but even then the residents weren't told why their wells were being tested.
Mr. Van Eck says the borough's health department did not want to alarm residents in case the wells were found to contain low levels of contamination. But the residents should have been alerted so that they could decide for themselves whether to have the tests done.
Residents were right to be angry about the way the situation was handled. Mr. Van Eck, who agrees that residents should have been immediately notified, says he has asked for a full investigation into the matter and will work with other government agencies to notify residents about any future potential health hazards.
Good.
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