Blackstone stops water use after contaminant scare
BLACKSTONE -- After vandals broke into the town's water storage tank and a bucket containing a mysterious substance was found nearby, town officials warned residents yesterday not to drink or touch town water in case the public water supply had been tainted.
Town officials rushed samples of the residue to labs for testing; results were not expected until today. Meanwhile, officials aren't taking any chances in this age of terrorism.
Most of Blackstone's 9,000 residents and those in 83 homes in neighboring North Smithfield, R.I., were told not to drink, cook, bathe, or wash clothes with town water. Anyone who made ice cubes, baby formula, juice, or other foods with town water after 6 p.m. Monday was told to throw them away. The town began flushing out its water system, and the town's four schools are scheduled to be closed today.
''We don't want to rule anything out," said Town Administrator Ray Houle. ''We live in a crazy society. Who knows what's going through people's minds. We want to make sure everything's safe."
Only residents whose homes are connected to the town's water supply are affected, about 2,500 of the 3,300 houses. The rest of the town gets water from private wells.
Federal officials have identified public water supplies as one of the nation's homeland security risks.
''Important!!!!!!!" began a notice slipped into the mailboxes of all residents and businesses yesterday by the town Water Department. ''Do not use the drinking water for any purpose."
Town officials handed out bottled water at fire stations and, at one point yesterday, fire trucks went down Main Street with speakers telling people not to drink the water.
''At first I was a little leery, thinking maybe it was terrorists," said Jeannine Manseau, 72, as she left the White Hen
Yesterday, school bathrooms were bolted shut, and portable toilets sprouted from the parking lots. Restaurants and the laundromat were shuttered. No one knew what might be trickling from their taps, and the simple act of sipping water often required a trip to the store.
It was the day the water stopped flowing in Blackstone, a community, about 55 miles southwest of Boston, so trusting that the fire chief posts his cellphone number on the town's website.
But Monday evening, officials believe, someone sneaked into the area around the town's new 1.3-million-gallon water storage tank, pried open a steel door to the tower, and opened a cover atop the tank.
Monday night, Blackstone police received a report that some youths were on the water tower, said Fire Chief Mike Sweeney. When officers arrived, they didn't see anyone. But yesterday morning, the town's highway superintendent discovered the damage to the tower. He also found a 5-gallon bucket near the tank containing the remnants of an unknown substance that looked like paint.
Shane Moody, the Blackstone water and sewer superintendent, said the bucket may have been left over from recent construction. The 12-foot barbed-wire fence around the tower had not been damaged, Moody said.
Local police, State Police, the state Department of Environmental Protection, and the Rhode Island Department of Health are investigating the break-in. The FBI decided not to become involved in the investigation, officials said.
After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a new federal law required public water officials to assess their systems and determine how they might be vulnerable. Officials were required to update their emergency response plans, said Maureen McClelland, the senior public health adviser for drinking water in the Boston office of the US Environmental Protection Agency.
Blackstone officials said they had been increasing security at the water tower, such as adding fences. An alarm system with surveillance cameras had previously been scheduled to be installed today, Houle said.
Water samples were sent to several labs for analysis, including the lab of the state Department of Environmental Protection, which ordered town officials to ban residents from using the water, said Ed Coletta, a spokesman for the department.
''Obviously, it's a precautionary measure," he said. ''We have not confirmed that there is or is not a contaminant."
By yesterday afternoon, Blackstone's small downtown was quieter than usual. At about noon, Fire Department officials shut down the restaurants in town and told supermarkets to close their deli sections. The Blackstone-Millville Regional High School cafeteria had to throw out its lunch yesterday -- including spaghetti, chicken, and mashed potatoes.
''I had a cup of coffee this morning, but I'm not worried because if it was that bad something would have happened by now," said James Sawyer, 21, a construction worker. ''Someone's probably just trying to scare people."
Kathleen Burge can be reached at kburge@globe.com. 
