Residents Split On Adding City Water Service

An Oak Creek Water and Sewer Utility official said Tuesday that while some residents on the southeast side of the city have petitioned for water service, others in the area are opposed. 

A neighborhood meeting will be held in September on a proposal to install a water main serving 26 properties near 10th Avenue and County Line Road.

The proposal was initiated by property owners through a petition for public service. If approved, property owners would pay for 50 percent of the project through special assessments.

Only 10 of the 26 affected property owners signed the petition, Utility Engineer Ron Pritzlaff said. 

During a neighborhood meeting earlier this summer, it appeared residents on 10th Avenue were mostly against the project, while those on County Line Road were for it, he said.

The main difference: 10th Avenue property owners have much more frontage and would pay more than those on County Line Road, Pritzlaff said. (Special assessments are based on frontage feet on each property.)

"There was an obvious divide," Pritzlaff said. 

A formal public hearing, originally scheduled for September, will now be held Oct. 15.

If approved, the water main would be installed by fall 2014. Officials estimate the cost of the project at $800,000.

Molybdenum issue muddled
The area in question is where the state Department of Natural Resources has found elevated levels of molybdenum in private wells. 

However, since the Oak Creek residents' petition was filed, the DNR has relaxed the standards of what is considered "elevated."

The DNR previously issued an advisory for private well owners with 40 micrograms of molybdenum per liter of groundwater. However, the new standard is more than double that, at 90 micrograms per liter. The DNR changed the advisory after a new analysis it said should ease fears of health effects. 

The DNR's move brought all but one well in Oak Creek into compliance, Health Officer Judi Price said. Twenty-five tests showed molybdenum levels over 40 micrograms per liter but under 90, she said. 

Pritzlaff said he's unsure of residents' feelings on city water service now that molybdenum standards have changed.

But he noted that many residents in that area have been drinking bottled water since 2009—years before the molybdenum issue arose—due to safety concerns. 

"I think it's, to a large degree, an inconvenience to them," he said.

Molybdenum is a naturally occurring element in the earth's crust and, in small amounts, is an essential part of people's diets.

However, it's also a byproduct of coal combustion and industrial waste. Drinking water with high levels of molybdenum carries risk, including digestive problems and gout, according to a DNR report.

DNR officials still haven't pinpointed the source of the high molybdenum levels.