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Oil spill threatens water well in Wayne County

Dozens are without drinking water in Honesdale after heating oil spilled out near a water well.

WAYNE COUNTY, Pa. — For Florence Peck, it's been more than a day since she last had running water in her house, after more than 200 hundred gallons of heating oil spilled at her mobile home park Wednesday morning.

"When I came home from the doctors, I didn't have any water when I was rinsing a cup," said Peck. "I thought my pipes were frozen, but they weren't cause I called my neighbor she said she didn't have water all day and in the afternoon."

An employee from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection responded to the heating oil spill at a house in the Sunrise Terrace mobile home park in Honesdale.

A crew was immediately called in to contain the spill, which happened next to one of the two water wells that supply the park.

The next day management sent letters to residents advising them not to use any water.

"They just brought around the letter last night. And that we couldn't use the water for anything washing, cooking, brushing your teeth or anything like that," said Peck.

Kevin Wilson is another one of the roughly 70 residents without water. He's holding out hope that everything gets fixed.

"Hopefully, they'll come back with good news, and we'll be able to use it," said Wilson. "I think eventually it's going to get in there. You know it's right behind the well house."

In the meantime, residents like Franklyn Cordero are relying on a water tanker and bottled water until the issue is fixed.

"They were pretty prompt. They have a big water tank here. I gotta give them a lot of credit from what I understand; it was just an accident, you know, things happen," said Cordero.

The water tanker from Aqua America is located right in the middle of the Sunrise Terrace mobile home park and will remain there as long as needed.

Newswatch 16 did reach out to the mobile home park management company but did not get a response.

Aqua Pennsylvania did say that customers in the Honesdale community are not impacted, and their drinking water service remains safe for consumption.

A drinking water truck has been placed in the community to help those in the Honesdale community.

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