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Woods Cross’ contaminated water has residents upset

Posted at 10:51 PM, Feb 05, 2013
and last updated 2013-02-06 00:51:38-05

WOODS CROSS, Utah - Chemicals used in dry cleaning have contaminated wells in Woods Cross, and residents showed up at the city council meeting on Tuesday demanding to know what is being done to clean it up.

Woods Cross draws its drinking water from five different wells in the city, but the chemical PZE has made its way into the ground water under the city and to four of those five wells.

Woods Cross Mayor Perry says that the city can't guarantee water free from pollutants in the future, and they're presenting several solutions.

One of the presented solutions is to do nothing, and residents say that is definitely the wrong choice.

"There are four things that humans need to survive: food, shelter, air - which is questionable - and our water. We don't need two of the four to be against us," one resident said.

Another solution is to build a $4 million treatment facility, which would increase the water bill for an average household of $10 a month. Some residents worry that solution could be pricey.

"It seems that we have two choices: to do nothing or to upgrade and keep control of this ourselves," one resident said. "And there's a price to that and we have to be very sensitive to how that affects the people. I remember just a $3 increase in the garbage fees was a big deal for some of the individuals and this would be three times that potentially."

The city will hold three open houses on March 6, 9 and 12, where they will present all options to citizens.