WINDHAM (AP) – A Windham couple is suing the town because of high levels of sodium and chloride found in their water well.

Peggy Manion and Keith Cook say they are forced to spend $30 a month for bottled water for cooking, drinking and feeding pets because dissolved salt from a town-owned sand and salt pile is seeping into the groundwater near their well.

The couple has filed suit against the town of Windham, claiming the salt pile is responsible for the high levels of sodium and chloride found in their well.

Claiming groundwater carried the dissolved salt into their well, they are asking the town to provide public water to their property and to pay for the damages they have incurred over the last two years.

“It’s just a nonstop list … it’s basically in anything the water touches,” Manion said.

In the spring of 2002, Manion and Cook say they began to see a dramatic difference in their water quality, most noticeably in their browning plants and graying laundry.

Testing found chloride levels were at 1,120 milligrams per liter – more than four times the state limit of 250 milligrams. Sodium levels were 358 milligrams per liter – three-and-a-half times the state limit of 100 milligrams.

The town’s attorney, Ken Cole, said officials have been trying unsuccessfully to reach a settlement with the couple for the past six months.

AP-ES-06-17-03 0944EDT



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