Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Tom Stankard/Daily Globe THE GOGEBIC County Road Commission discusses Monday whether or not to close the Lake Road spring near Little Girl's Point in Ironwood Township. From left are: commission vice-chairperson Marti Wegner, chairperson Don Bennetts and road commission manager-engineer Darren Pionk.
BESSEMER - The Gogebic County Road Commission agreed Monday not to close the Lake Road spring, after coliform was detected there.
Instead, they decided to put warning signs by it and see if Ironwood Township will help test the quality of the water.
The spring is located on the easement for Lake Road, said road commission manger Darren Pionk. On July 29, the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department tested the quality of the water after the department received a complaint of an illness from a person who drank from the spring following the July flooding damages to the area.
The test came up positive for the presence of coliform. The health department encouraged the road commission to close the spring.
According to the health department, coliform bacteria are naturally present in the environment and are used to be an indicator that other potentially harmful bacteria may be present. Bacterial contamination can occur when surface waters gain entry to a drinking water source.
On Monday, Pionk said he agrees with the health department in that people shouldn't drink from the spring.
"We need to protect the rest of the public," he sad. "We have to secure the sight so no one does drink from it. My recommendation is we close it off right now."
In response, Ironwood resident Leah Gramitt said the spring serves as the main source of drinking water for her and other people in the area
"It's a really big deal to decide to shut down someone's sole source of water. I would really appreciate it if the board extended the decision until more testing can be done," she said.
Several residents agreed.
The board also agreed with Gramitt, and Commissioner Dan Siirila suggested having Ironwood Township help test the water.
Fellow commissioner Roy D'Antonio suggested placing signs near the spring advising people not to drink the water.
Pionk noted the health department did put a sign next to the spring, but it's no longer there. With that, Siirila made a motion to place signs at the spring that are harder to remove and ask the township for help with testing the water. The commission approved.
In other action, the road commission agreed to begin applying for a State Infrastructure Bank loan to help aid repair costs following the flood that swept through Little Girl's Point on July 11.
