Initial well tests in Vienna look good, resident reports

VIENNA — A Sodom Hutchings Road resident whose well water was tested in connection with the oil spill at Kleese Development Associates says she was notified today that the results "look good," but she'll receive another call tonight with additional information.

Julie Barr, whose house is just north of the Kleese brine injection facility, said the results mean it "doesn't look like" the contamination got into her family's water well.

Barr said she's happy for the results but hopes the good news won't make people think the situation is over and allow it to be "swept under the rug," including information about how the spill occurred in the first place.

Barr said she doesn't know yet what results her neighbors received.

Meanwhile, the cleanup of the wetlands directly across Sodom Hutchings Road from the Kleese site continues with about 10 workers continuing to use a vacuum truck to remove liquid while wearing boots and waders.

One woman living only a couple hundred yards from the wetlands across from Kleese, said she's been trying to keep a neighborhood cat in her yard by feeding it to stop it from consuming fish or water from the contamination.

And Tuesday night was a busy night for the cleanup, she said.

"The lights, the noise. The lights started coming on about 5. They had huge lights all night, and this truck had this squealing noise all night.

"You worry about your pets," she said. "The people in the [house beside her] have children. You just don't know."