Task team assembled to address Gooseneck Pond

TICONDEROGA | After 34 years and seven town supervisors, it would appear that the Gooseneck Pond water debacle might, once and for all, get some resolution. That is the hope, anyway. In one of his first major acts since stepping into the role in January, Ti Town Supervisor Jim O'Bryan has gotten the ball rolling to find a proper solution (and maybe, just maybe, even somehow manage to keep Gooseneck Pond alive), forming a Chilson/Eagle Lake Task Team. "The time has finally come for us to build a community consensus on what is best for our town and our residents whose water comes from Gooseneck Pond," O'Bryan said. And many, many, many taxpayers have said, Gooseneck is what is best. "Gooseneck has never failed or made anyone sick," said Chilson resident Dan Blanchette. "It is by far the best water available and has been for decades." And to take it away forever just seems nonsensical, to say the least. But in its current state, the Gooseneck system is noncompliant with the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974. And that's where the issue began. Let's rewind back to the early nineties, when the New York State Department of Health ordered that unfiltered water sources be treated for cryptosporidium, an intestinal parasite. The department found that Ticonderoga had been in violation of the order since 1991 (many keep asking if Gooseneck has even been tested for the parasite, and the unverified response has been 'no'). "Crypto is only a 'what if.' I've spoken to people that have been using the water, and there is no illness," Blanchette said. In 2009, the Department of Health ordered the Town to replace or cover Gooseneck's reservoir, which had been created in 1931. A plan was developed to replace the reservoir with tanks. However, an inspection revealed additional issues with the dam and transmission lines. In 2018, Ticonderoga was threatened with a lawsuit that would have required the Town to pay thousands upon thousands per day for the violation, which would have cost the town millions upon millions. The Town ultimately signed a consent decree that year requiring the decommissioning of Gooseneck Pond as a drinking water source by June of 2025, leaving Chilson and Eagle Lake residents at a threat of losing their clean water supply- and enduring every nightmare that goes along with it- despite having been faithful taxpayers to the Town for years (and not under the impression they were what the Town was calling "contract users"). The solution put forth by the previous town supervisor and his council was for homeowners to dig their own wells, a costly endeavor that many would struggle to even afford, let alone the fact there is no guarantee when and how deep you will hit water. And even if water is hit, best case scenario, there is still no saying what that quality of water will be (just ask Donny and Marie Gijanto, they'll tell you). Some homeowners aren't even able to build on their property because they are too close to their septic systems (this time ask Todd Condon, he'll tell you). But leaving people without safe drinking water is also clearly a human rights violation, and the Health Department probably wouldn't take too kindly to that. Seems pretty problematic, to say the least, Blanchette said. So the deadline has come and gone, and the Gooseneck Pond pipes are still open and providing water to the 109 homes in question, but still on borrowed time. This is where the Chilson/Eagle Lake Task Team comes in. The committee of 13 vested taxpayers met for the first time on Tuesday, Feb. 10. On the team roster are Blanchette (the Committee Chairman), Margaret Lauman, Bruce Bruce, Bobby Porter, Dennis Towne, Todd Condon, Mary Holroyd, Jeff Cook, Sue Clark, Mike Trybendis, Keith Dolbeck, and Diana DiPofi. The majority are on the transmission line from Gooseneck; some are not. But for whatever personal reason, each person is extremely passionate about finding a way to keep Gooseneck as a viable source. And they have been granted until Nov. 12 to submit their final recommendation to the Ticonderoga Town Board. The Town Board will then take that recommendation to governing decision makers to see if they will accept the idea as a proper way to bring Gooseneck into legal compliance with the Fresh Drinking Water Act of '74, allowing users to live happily ever after with their beloved and reliable pond water. "The committee will be provided through the town access to all documents and people involved with this project in the past," O'Bryan said, ensuring all information is divulged and that the ultimate recommendation to the Town will be made from a fully educated and thoroughly knowledgeable standpoint. To the committee, the Gooseneck issue matters to every resident, not just those affected by its threatened demise. Clean, safe, healthy, non-corrosive water should be available to everyone. Yet, the well out on Street Road has, and continues, to fall short of that description. Many in Ticonderoga are already far too familiar with what hard water does to a household, just ask anyone who draws from Street Road. It's likely that big box retailers have noticed a huge uptick in local bottled water sales the past few years. Team member Bob Porter, whose business the Windchill Factory currently draws its supply from Lake George, worries if Lake George were also to be disconnected sooner rather than later, (which has been strongly inferred by many), his necessary and egregiously expensive equipment would be ruined by the shared water alternative. And allegedly, the H2O on the north end of town is getting harder. At the meeting, Blanchette disclosed to the task team that out on Street Road, the recent hardness readings weren't looking good. "When the well on Street Road was first drilled, it was at 180 GPGs," he said. "Now, it is up to 220 GPG." Will it continue to increase? Only time will tell, but Blanchette said based on other similar cases he has studied, it is possible. "If it reaches 400 GPG, we will be demanded to shut it down," Blanchette said. "This is about more than Chilson and Eagle Lake," he said. "If the hardness increases more, it will be critical to what we do with Gooseneck." And just for reference, Blanchette said Gooseneck tests at a very comfortable, soft, non-corrosive 20 GPG. The task force brainstormed, identifying 13 ideas centered on providing a future water source for the Gooseneck users. By weighted vote, the task team focused on two specific statements for study, the first being the exploration of installing Ultraviolet (UV) ray treatment and other associated equipment adjacent to the Town's chlorinator at Eagle Lake. UV disinfection works by altering microbial DNA and effectively killing waterborne microorganisms. Because UV rays don't add anything to drinking water during the treatment and disinfection process, it's safe to drink UV-treated water. Cryptosporidium and Giardia need higher UV doses due to their tough outer shell. The second area of focus would be pursuing the formation of a water district for Chilson and Eagle Lake users (former Ti Supervisor Mark Wright had begun exploring this process before he left office). A UV Specialist will be present for the next meeting to offer professional insight and answer questions. The Chilson/Eagle Lake Task Team will be meeting once a month on every second Tuesday at 6 p.m. The next meeting is March 10 within the Community Building Auditorium, and all residents, be they Lake George, Street Road, or Gooseneck users, are invited and encouraged to attend. "We want full transparency, we want as many people at these meetings as possible," Blanchette said. "We want nobody left out of this; this issue affects us all."

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Task team assembled to address Gooseneck Pond

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