The Passamaquoddy Water District (PWD) is assuring its customers in Eastport, Pleasant Point and Perry that its water is safe to drink, after it appears as though someone tried to sabotage the water supply by placing one-gallon Ziploc bags containing a petroleum product near the intake for the water treatment plant in Perry. The incident is perplexing because the letters "NoDAPL," referring to the protest by water protectors against the Dakota Access Pipeline, were written on the bags.
    "We have no reason to believe it got into the water supply," says PWD business manager Ann Bellefleur. "We feel nothing's been contaminated."
     According to Bellefleur, the PWD had been informed about the bags by the treatment plant's neighbor, Tim Tiess, on Sunday, November 27. "He noticed them in the impoundment" and contacted PWD employee Howard Johnson. Tiess pointed to what he said was a bag on the far shore of the impoundment area. The following day, Tiess called the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) about the bags, and Darian Higgins, an oil and hazardous material responder with the DEP, then made two visits to the impoundment area, on November 29 and 30. During his first visit he couldn't find any bags, but on the second visit Tiess showed him one of the bags. "Tiess thought there were several more," he notes, so Higgins contacted Dale Mitchell, the brownfields program coordinator for the Passamaquoddy Tribe's environmental department at Sipayik, to help with the search. On December 1 Mitchell located eight more bags that contained some kind of petroleum product, with varying amounts in each bag. They were along the shoreline of the impoundment area opposite the treatment plant. According to Howard Johnson, all of the bags were found in one location, about 10 to 15 feet apart. The following day Mitchell used a drone to survey the area and did not find any more bags.
      On December 2 the bags were taken by Washington County Sheriff's Department Deputy Matt Carter, and the sheriff's department will have the bags tested to determine what was in them. According to the sheriff's department, along with some type of fuel some bags may have had a substance similar to liquid soap.
      The PWD notified the Maine Drinking Water Program of the incident and posted information for its customers on its Facebook page, which it will keep updated with any new information.
     The bag Higgins collected has a petroleum product of some kind, and the DEP will try to identify the product. Noting that some of the bags had very little petroleum in them, Higgins says, "We can only assume that some had leaked out, but we don't know the quantity." He adds, "There's a likelihood there was a discharge to that body of water." He notes, though, that he did not see any oil sheen on the water, although Tiess told him that he saw one. At this point, the DEP is not planning any further investigation.
     Bellefleur believes all of the bags have been collected and also notes that there is no petroleum sheen seen on the water and that none of the bags had been broken open.
     Mark McCluskey of A.E. Hodsdon Consulting Engineers of Waterville, which is the licensed primary water operator for the PWD, says that "it's very unlikely" that the petroleum product would get into the water system. Any type of fuel would float at the top of the water, and the water for the treatment plant is drawn from the bottom of the impoundment, which is at least 12 feet below the surface. The PWD is having samples of the water from the impoundment area tested for volatile organic compounds, which would detect any fuel or oil. The water company also periodically runs those tests as required by the state, with McCluskey estimating they are run about once every three years.

Assessing vulnerability to threats
     With NoDAPL written on the bags, Mitchell notes that someone was referencing the water protectors opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline. "What doesn't make sense is placing the bags into a water source that affects a lot of people. It's contrary. It doesn't make any sense."
     Mitchell says the incident does illustrate that the water system is vulnerable. "If anyone wants to make a statement, they can write something on a bag. The unknown is scary. It's concerning to me, being a user." He adds, "Somebody's water C that's serious stuff."
     McCluskey notes that it would be difficult to fully protect many of the public water supplies in Maine, with lakes like Sebago Lake open for swimming and boating and surrounded by private camps. "It would be impossible to limit access to surface water supplies," he says.
     While there is fencing around the PWD treatment plant entrance, the impoundment area is not fenced in. Even if the fencing was extended, McCluskey notes that there would still be many areas along the stream and lake where one could access the water. Bellefleur notes, "They could go all the way up to Boyden's Lake. Potentially this could have been a lot worse."
      The Maine Drinking Water Program does have water companies conduct vulnerability assessments, but McCluskey points out, "There's only so much you can do for supplies like that. They are somewhat vulnerable."
      Several people concerned about the incident, including those involved with the rally held on November 15 at Sipayik supporting the water protectors in North Dakota, attended the PWD board meeting on December 5. Maria Girouard noted that shortly after the rally, which received media coverage, the bags with the words "NoDAPL" written on them were found in the impoundment area for the water supply. "It feels hostile. It feels like a threat," she commented.
      Holly Cleaves, who was one of the organizers of the rally, says that no one associated with supporting the water protectors would commit such an act.
PWD board member Randy Newcomb commented, "We're not immune from people who don't use rational thinking. Why would anybody do it? It makes no sense."
Board chair Richard Clark told those at the meeting, "We know enough to say the water's safe." He added, "Everyone is taking this seriously." Following the incident, the PWD is installing security cameras on the treatment plant building that will cover the impoundment area. PWD employee Howard Johnson noted that he has worked for the water company for 29 years and it's the first time he's seen an incident like this one.
      According to McCluskey, tampering with a public water supply is a federal offense, and Chief Deputy Michael Crabtree says the sheriff's department is actively investigating the incident. The department encourages people with information to contact the sheriff's department.