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By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief
The cities of Ludington and Scottville will seek financial reimbursement for an incident that caused the Scottville water district to be without water for several hours on Friday, May 24 and resulted in a boil water order throughout that Memorial Day weekend. Scottville purchases its water from the City of Ludington and manages water service along US 10-31 from Stiles Road east into Scottville.
According to Ludington City Manager Mitch Foster, in the morning of Friday, May 24, a crew from Nordlund & Associates, Inc., consulting engineers from Ludington, were working on a soil boring to test the ground in an area along US 10-31 about a quarter mile west of Stiles Road. Foster said the testing was being done in anticipation of a new water lateral that will be installed on the north side of the highway.
Foster said MISS DIG and markers were in place indicated various utility lines, including water.
“It looks as though they did not hand dig deep enough to expose the water prior to boring,” Foster said. “It is unknown why they didn’t (hand) dig deeper but it is clear from pictures that they were too close to our marker as well as that the boring drill hit the water main square.”
Foster said workers from the cities of Ludington and Scottville responded immediately upon noticing a drop in water pressure. Towers in Ludington, Scottville and at West Shore Community College were immediately drained.
“Upon identifying the problem by the Ludington Water Plant, both the Ludington and Scottville departments of public works and utilities crews made their way to the line break in front of Elmer’s,” Foster said. “Not only did these folks do a great job identifying the break, working on turning proper valves at West Shore Community College and along the main, but they also communicated appropriately to both city halls and our township partners (in Amber and Victory).”
Foster said city hall staffs in both Scottville and Ludington assisted with notifications and communication to the public, “which is extremely helpful in these circumstances. Appreciation goes out to each of these individuals.”
Scottville Mayor Marcy Spencer, who is currently serving as acting city manager, echoed Foster.
“We are very thankful for the fast response of both DPWs, both cities’ administrative staffs and also the many volunteers who helped provide bottle water to our residents over the weekend,” Spencer said.
Foster said a bill for all expenditures will be sent to the contractor.
The water boil order was lifted Sunday, May 26.
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