Spencer water supply contaminated

SPENCER -- At least 93 people were treated at hospitals, and much of this central Massachusetts town came to a halt yesterday after a malfunction at the town's water treatment plant released noxious chemicals into the water supply, officials said.

Authorities ordered residents not to drink, cook, or bathe with tap water.

The excess chemicals, potentially lethal if swallowed in large amounts, are unlikely to be removed until this afternoon, and there will be extensive environmental testing before residents are allowed to use the water, said Ed Coletta, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection.

He said a do-not-use order would remain in effect until at least this afternoon and advised residents to discard any liquids or foods made with town water Tuesday or yesterday.

"We consider this a very serious issue," Coletta said. "It impacted a whole town's water supply. With all the people who went to the hospital, it's a serious problem."

The malfunction released too much sodium hydroxide, also known as lye, into the drinking water supply, Coletta said. Sodium hydroxide is routinely put into water to reduce acidity and limit pipe corrosion. Officials discovered the contamination yesterday morning and believe that it occurred overnight.

Spencer town administrator Carter Terenzini would not theorize how the malfunction occurred. "We're working on moving forward, not looking backward right now," he said. "We'll release that report as soon as it's complete."

Terenzini said the town would not add sodium hydroxide to its water supply until after an independent review by state environmental officials.

A similar mishap occurred in Ipswich in November 2005, Coletta said, adding that the chemicals could cause ulcers in the esophagus. Last night, investigators had not determined concentration of the chemical in the water, he said.

Police began receiving calls at about 6:30 a.m. from residents who had showered and reported skin irritation and moderate burns. Most of the calls came from the downtown area of Spencer, a town of 12,000 about 10 miles west of Worcester.

Terenzini said about 200 volunteers helped town officials to spread the word to schools, nursing homes, restaurants, and day-care centers and to go door to door with leaflets to ensure that residents stopped using the water. Coletta said the town lacks a reverse 911 system, making it more difficult to get out the word.

By 6:30 p.m., at least 37 people had been treated at St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester, and at least 56 people were treated on two campuses at the UMass Memorial Medical Center, officials said.

Dennis Irish, a spokesman for St. Vincent Hospital, said that 13 patients there were decontaminated for sodium hydroxide and that one man was admitted who had experienced chest pains. Most of the patients received treatment for the equivalent of first-degree sunburns and for swallowing the chemicals. Of the patients, three children were treated, including a 15-month-old who had ingested the chemicals, Irish said.

At UMass Memorial, most people arrived with a complaint of a sore throat and irritation to the skin around their mouth, said Francis Renzi, a professor of emergency medicine at UMass Memorial. The youngest patient there was 8 weeks old. By 7 p.m., nine patients remained at the UMass hospitals and 11 at St. Vincent.

"I would say there doesn't seem to be any evidence of widespread, significant illness from this exposure," Renzi said.

Scott Blodgett, 34, took a shower around 8 a.m. before leaving for work. About a half hour later, he noticed one of his legs began to itch. He didn't think about it until a cousin called about two hours later to tell him about the contaminated water.

"It's like a bad sunburn that really itches," he said.

He ended up at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Worcester, where he was treated and released.

"It's been a real inconvenience," Blodgett said.

Terenzini said the town sought 14,000 gallons of bottled water from distributors around the state, much of which was dropped off at the local fire station and other distribution centers, where residents waited in lines for a case or two. They had to show a valid driver's license or registration proving they lived in the town.

"It's not all that bad, just a little inconvenient," said Laura Tingley, one resident in line. "Things happen. Life goes on."

The town also delivered drinking water to those who couldn't make it to the station. Late yesterday, residents with wells, which were unaffected, were expecting relatives and friends to show up to take showers.

Electronic signs at the town line warned people not to use the water, forcing residents and businesses to scramble for a replacement source .

Linda Faucher, owner of Spencer Flower and Gift Shop by Linda on Main Street, normally goes through 45 gallons of water a day to keep cut flowers fresh. Yesterday was Secretary's Day, a busy day for the shop, and Faucher had to rely on nine 1-gallon tubs she bought at a grocery store in town.

To heat water for her cut flowers, Faucher used her coffee maker. "We improvised," she said. "It was painstaking."

Maria Cramer of the Globe staff contributed to this report.