To the editor: The West Milford Township attorney Fred Semrau and hydro-geologist Matt Mulhall are seeking residents living near Eagle Ridge to volunteer their wells for monitoring during the upcoming Eagle Ridge well test. When K. Hovnanian did a previous three-day well test, I told residents not to permit them to monitor their wells, for good reasons. (1) They required an indemnification statement that would not hold them liable for any damage done to residents’ wells, or property, or for the wells running out of water. (2) Their plan would heavily chlorinate all wells after the test, without providing drinking water during the time when the chlorine level was too high for drinking. (3) They wouldn’t provide enough information for folks to understand what procedures would be done. (4) The original plan could not show up the existing water problems. Why have things changed for the better? The West Milford Council hired Semrau and Mulhall (“M-Squared,” who did the West Milford water study in 2003) to provide legal and scientific monitoring to protect our residents. The DEP has permitted Mulhall to have input into the upcoming well test and data evaluation. This time the test will be a 30 day pump-down test of the Eagle Ridge main well with another 60 days to monitor the water-recharge into that well. This longer period will provide a more realistic picture of the amount of ground water available, or not available, for the Eagle Ridge development. How were residents’ concerns addressed? On May 23 at town hall, Mulhall and Semrau discussed the legal and technical aspects of the planned well test, and why it is important to have many residential wells monitored during the time when the Eagle Ridge well is pump-tested. Robin O’Hearn from Skylands CLEAN and I were there, along with seven residents. By the end of the discussion we were all convinced that it would be important to have as many residential wells monitored as possible, and all seven residents signed on to the monitoring. They were clearly told that if they wanted to change their minds at any point, even minutes before the monitoring would start, they could back out. So, what’s different now? No indemnification is required. If there is any (unlikely) damage to the well or property, DEP requires those responsible to rectify the problems; Not the homeowner. Mulhall showed us the monitoring equipment. A probe on a long plastic tube is put into the well to take water measurements. The probe had a micro-computer inside to record the well’s water level every few seconds during the test. The equipment would be washed with a mild Clorox solution before it enters the well to prevent a bacteria problem. At the end of the monitoring period, after the equipment is removed, the residents’ water would be tested for bacteria. If there are no bacteria, and that is the most usual case, the well would not need to be chlorinated. If there are bacteria, and the resident wants the well chlorinated, that would be done, and drinking water would be provided for the time during which the chlorine level is too high to be safe for drinking. Why is it critical to monitor residential wells? The developer has only one “useful” well that would be monitored within the “zone of influence.” That zone is an elliptical area around the main Eagle Ridge well where residential wells could be impacted if there isn’t enough water. The developer plans to monitor other wells that are too far away to show an impact (e.g., a half-mile or so). Thus, at the end of the test, the developer could claim that there is lots of water - so much that no residential wells were impacted. To provide strong evidence that there is not enough water for Eagle Ridge and also for the existing residents, the more wells that are monitored, the better the chance to find a negative impact. If residential wells are sufficiently impacted the test would be stopped, and declared a failure - DEP would not permit it to continue draining water from residential wells. At the end of the meeting Mulhall provided a legal reason to have one’s well monitored during the Eagle Ridge test. If wells that are not monitored get serious partial or full water-outages, the developer’s lawyer could claim that the water outage was a pre-existing condition, and not due to the pumping test. But if one’s well is monitored, there would be data to show that there was water in the well before the test started, and after the test continued, the water level decreased. Such data will be important to convince the DEP that Eagle Ridge would not have enough water to be developed. Semrau and Mullhall would like to have yet more residential wells monitored. We know that other residents were interested but couldn’t fit the May 23 presentation into their personal schedule. If more residents are interested in such a meeting, they would be glad to schedule another date, taking into consideration times during which residents would be available. Interested residential neighbors of Eagle Ridge can phone Township Administrator Richard Kunz, at 973-728-2710. When enough folks have phoned, those residents would be called and given a few possible dates for a meeting to determine times convenient to the most residents. This is a great opportunity to get answers to questions relevant to the upcoming Eagle Ridge well test. Doris Aaronson West Milford