The Worden-Ballantine Yellowstone County Water & Sewer District met on Monday evening to discuss a solution to the water contamination issue in the area. Back in the summer of 2019, the main source of drinking water was discovered to be contaminated. Unusually high levels of nitrates had rendered the water unsafe to consume, and boiling the water had the unwanted effect of raising the nitrate level even further. This forced roughly 350 families to purchase externally-sourced water for their daily cooking and drinking usage. This new expense was not expected or appreciated by the Worden and Ballantine residents, and those at the During the Monday meeting, the board discussed the solution of drilling multiple new wells in order to establish new sources of water. While several locations were considered, no solid decisions have yet been made. Further issues soon arose in the details of how the wells should be drilled. This led to a lengthy discussion between the engineers and drilling personnel as to what the most effective course of action would be. “We have to follow the DEQ’s guidelines while drilling,” explained Gary who represented his drilling company. “But their guidelines are outdated.” He went on to explain how he had a more cost-effective and efficient method of drilling the wells that would still allow them to function at their full capacity. However, there was a complication in that it didn’t follow the DEQ’s specific standards.
From there, the decision was made to attempt to persuade the DEQ to consider the alternate drilling method, and the board continued to discuss the financial implications of this large project. The multi-million-dollar job requires careful planning and deliberate attention to detail as mistakes would be costly and time-consuming. However, until the DEQ clears the alternate drilling method, the progress will be temporarily slowed. As the meeting drew to a close, the Certified Water & Distribution Operator, Sandy Kust stated, “We want a solution for this as well, and we are working hard to find that solution.” At this point, no solid timeline has been established. While there are many questions that have yet to be answered, steps are being made to resolve the water issues that have contaminated the community water supply for nearly a year.
