Rusty water roils residents

The basement of the Malverne Public Library was packed last week with about 180 people from the village and neighboring communities who have had enough of the rust-colored water that flows from their faucets.

They gathered in the large library room on Feb. 10 to discuss the worsening problem of brown water in many areas of the village with Bill Varley, president of the water supplier Long Island American Water.

Although it was intended purely as a question-and-answer session with Varley, the meeting grew heated at times, as angry residents failed to contain their frustration and shouted accusations and complaints across the room. They demanded answers and a resolution, refusing to back down even after Varley attempted to provide explanations.

The meeting was organized by the Malverne Civic Association with the help of past President Tom Grech, who got the ball rolling on the issue two weeks ago when he started a Facebook group focusing on the problem.

Grech opened the meeting by thanking LIAW for being civic-minded and Varley for agreeing to answer residents’ questions, but he assured him that residents would not back down until the problem was resolved.

Attendees, who also came from West Hempstead and North Lynbrook, complained that in addition to turning their water brown, the iron in the water has stained appliances and ruined clothing.

Despite repeated assurances from Varley that iron is not a health hazard, residents expressed concern for their health and safety. “At ground zero, the government said that the air was safe to breathe,” shouted one resident, “and guys are dying today. That was 10 years ago.”

Eileen D’Amore said she worried about the effects of iron on young children. “I have a 1-year-old child,” she told Varley, “and these tests that you say are so safe — were those done on infants [whose] brains and bodies are developing?”

Others questioned LIAW’s transparency, asking why the company told customers to replace water heaters when they complained about the brown water. Several residents said they spent thousands of dollars replacing heaters and installing filters, to no avail. Varley said he was not aware that customers were being advised to replace water heaters, and that LIAW would investigate the matter.

Residents also scolded him for failing to notify LIAW customers and the Village of Malverne that its new iron-filtration plant is not yet online. The company opened the plant, on the Malverne-Lynbrook border, in late October, with the promise that more iron would be removed from the water — but the plant never began operating.

“We had to create a Facebook page … for the purpose of discussing this issue,” former village Trustee Don Pupke told Varley, “because you folks have been absent from the whole forum here in terms of discussing with the public.”

Varley said he respectfully disagreed with the assertion that his company has not been transparent, saying that it has been “open and honest” about the water situation. He admitted, and apologized for, his failure to notify residents and village officials that the iron-filtration plant was not yet running.

“I apologize,” he said. “I got so involved in getting this thing online — I missed the forest for the trees.”

Varley explained that the paint in the plant’s new tanks has not yet cured completely, and that LIAW could not begin operating it until that problem was resolved. He estimated that the plant would be up and running within five weeks.

Concerned that iron will remain in the water even after the plant is in service, some residents asked why there is no competition — why LIAW is the only water supplier for Malverne and surrounding neighborhoods, and why they have to pay for water they deem unusable. “I don’t want to pay for water that is unacceptable to drink or bathe in,” one resident said. “There is no competition, so there’s no accountability.”

“Why are we paying for water and then paying to make sure our water is safe?” Malverne resident Marianne Monahan asked, before demanding that Varley provide proof that the water is safe.

Varley said that LIAW follows all state Department of Health guidelines and that information about the water system, contaminant levels, test results and more can be found in the department’s annual Water Quality Report.

The back-and-forth continued for about an hour, and some residents said they left feeling unsatisfied. “I think it was just lip service … we didn’t really get any real answers,” Monahan said. “Fortunately, the community is going to band together … and we’re definitely going to have to follow through with this because I don’t think that the water company is going to take any action unless we band together.”

Many posted comments on Grech’s Facebook page, suggesting follow-up meetings and posing additional questions. “I believe that we should send a tape of the meeting to the NYS Public Service Commission to ask for their help and support in holding the company to its promises,” Pupke wrote. “It appears that the PSC is the only agency they care about because they approve the [water] rates.”

Grech and Civic Association officials said they would hold another meeting in the coming week. They said they plan to form committees to address the health, legal, fiscal and governmental issues related to LIAW and the brown water.

Visit the association’s website, malvernecivic.org, for more information.