Power outages lead to loss of water

Glasgow Daily Times

CAVE CITY January 29, 2009 12:47 pm

— By AMBER DILLEY
and GINA KINSLOW
Water systems are the latest victim of the winter storm that hit the area early this week.
Caveland Environmental Authority has issued an emergency use only, boil water advisory for customers effective 11 a.m. Wednesday, until further notice.
The main distribution center in Canmer, owned by Green River Valley Water, is without permanent power.
Kerry McDaniel, Hart County emergency management director, said the county is under a districtwide water advisory.
“If you are a member of Green River Valley Water, it’s a total advisory,” McDaniel said.
“The Green River Valley main plant has been down and we have it back online temporarily, as of 6 a.m. We brought in emergency generators from Tennessee and equipment from Cincinnati to bring this plant back up and it will be a slow process, but there are gallons being fed into the line to serve the customers.”
Customers served by Glasgow Water Company are not under an advisory, said Tony Richey, Barren County emergency management director.
“The advisory is just for Caveland Water and Green Valley customers,” Richey said. “There’s one coffee place that’s closed in Glasgow because they use Caveland, but that’s all. The advisory doesn’t affect any customers using Glasgow water.”
Scott Young, general manager of the Glasgow Water Company, added the company has not had any outages that have affected the water treatment plant operations.
“We are still providing wholesale water to our wholesale water districts,” Young said.
The company provides water to Caveland Environmental and Green River Valley Water districts.
Glasgow Water Company is currently pumping water from a facility at Western Hills on Ky. 90 west of Glasgow. It is also pumping water to Cave City to fill the Cave City Volunteer Fire Department tanks, said Kevin Jandt, deputy chief of the department.
“We should be good on fire protection as long as people don’t get carried away with water,” he said.
The Barren River District Health Department released a statement saying that operators of businesses affected should contact the department to arrange an inspection prior to reopening.
David Burton, environmental supervisor with the department, added that ice in ice machines at hotels that use the water should also be discarded and the ice bins sanitized.
Hotels should also make plans to receive ice from an approved source located outside the affected emergency area.
People in the Hart County emergency area still have another problem on their hands: many are without power, mainly customers using Farmer’s Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation and Kentucky Utilities, McDaniel said.
Jerry Carter, with Farmer’s RECC, was not available for comment at press time because he was out assessing the situation.
William Ray, superintendent of Glasgow Electric Plant Board, said the utility has no power outages at this time.
“The only customers not served right now are cable and Internet users out on the fringes where it’s powered by Farmer’s,” Ray said. “Our customers out there have power. We’ve been in contact with Farmer’s and they’re going to allow us to work with our customers so we can fix that problem.”
The cleanup process for the counties is ongoing. With power lines still down and some ice on the roads, counties might expect federal help soon.
President Obama an-nounced federal emergency aid has been made available for Kentucky to help supplement state and local response efforts in the areas hit by the winter storm.
Assistance is available for several counties, including Barren, Hart and Metcalfe.
The counties have been getting work done with the help of local fire departments and volunteers.
“Our volunteers have done a tremendous job,” McDaniel said. “It’ll be a slow process, but they’re working really hard. Everybody’s needs will be met and we ask for patience through this emergency.”