Harrisburg residents grapple over water issue

Monday, August 6, 2007 10:45 AM PDT

HARRISBURG, Ore. (AP) — First, the city of Harrisburg learned that its most prolific source of drinking water comes from a well that was drilled on land it does not own.

Now, residents are saying the water stinks.

‘‘When we have people over and run hot water to rinse off the plates after dinner, it’s almost to the point that they check their feet because it smells like dog poop,’’ Greg Skovbo told the City Council earlier this year.

Others in Harrisburg, particularly those in the southeast part of town, describe the smell as ‘‘fertilizer’’ and ‘‘wet dog.’’

Residents also complain about the taste and appearance. Troy and Amber Jackson pay to have bottled water delivered each month because their children won’t drink their tap water. Casper’s husband installed a home filtration system last month because the couple were disgusted by ‘‘white, stringy floaties’’ that melting ice cubes left in their drinks.

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Harrisburg residents last week received their annual drinking water quality report, assuring them that the city’s water meets federal and state requirements.

Naturally occurring iron, manganese and hydrogen sulfide are likely causing the smell, taste and staining, said Dennis Nelson, groundwater coordinator for the state’s drinking water program. Most of the municipal water comes from a well that was erroneously drilled on the wrong side of a property line in 1996.

The land, which sits along the banks of the Willamette River, is owned by Ellen Leigh of Battleground, Wash.

Leigh withdrew an offer to sell the 0.4-acre parcel to the city for $10,000. Instead, she proposed a $200 per month lease agreement, retroactive to 1996, which would mean the city already would owe more than $25,000 for using the land for its well.

The site is part of a larger parcel Leigh inherited from her late father, who bought it in a surplus land auction. The Linn County assessor’s office lists the real market value of the entire parcel as $500.

In a claim filed last month in Linn County Court, Harrisburg seeks ownership — or an easement — under Oregon’s ‘‘adverse claims’’ law. That statute allows a party to take possession of property it has openly and continuously used for at least 10 years if it can demonstrate ‘‘an honest belief’’ that it owned the land in the first place.

City Administrator Bruce Cleeton said the taste and smell issues may seem worse there than they used to because the city once used water from the disputed well sparingly, adding it to the mix only during peak-demand summer months.

After growing nearly 25 percent since 2000, however, Harrisburg now needs water from the mineral-rich aquifer year-round to serve its 3,500 residents.

The council this spring directed public works officials to spend up to $50,000 on a pilot project to see if a filtration system would solve the problem. That step was put on hold, however, after bids to drill the city’s next well came in much higher than projected.