07/22/2013
Because everyone want to depend on government for it's chlorine flavored water.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection will meet with a Lancaster County man today to discuss the future of his spring water vending business.
The meeting between DEP and Lynn Rannels of Adamstown is over the state demanding that Rannels run required tests at his Crystal Spring Vended Water site.
Rannels has run the coin-operated water-dispensing business in Berks County, just north of Adamstown, for about 30 years.
Last month, DEP posted a warning to customers on Rannels' dispensing machines, saying his water had not been tested according to state standards.
Under state guidelines that went into effect in 2012, the water must be regularly tested for asbestos, synthetic organic chemicals such as pesticides and herbicides and for bacteria.
That testing, DEP spokeswoman Lisa Kasianowitz said, had not been done.
Rannels countered that he had closed the vending station, which draws its water from an on-site well some 300 feet underground, as of Jan. 1.
Rannels said only "a handful of people" still use the station, and they are his friends and family. And they can use it only if they have access to keys to unlock the pump.
"Nobody comes there for water who doesn't know where to put the key in and how to work it," Rannels said.
Kasianowitz said inspectors at the site saw people "walking back and forth filling up jugs of water, and DEP isn't going to ask them if they're family members of Mr. Rannels."
One person, she said, filled 15 jugs with water.
Rannels said he had been testing his water under previous guidelines, but that the new regulations added "another $5,000 worth of tests."
"If they don't add on more tests, they don't have anything to regulate," Rannels complained.
Kasianowitz said DEP's concern is that, even if the public is not buying water there, others are "still at risk of drinking contaminated water."
Rannels has a permit, obtained in 2003, to operate as a public water supplier. This allows him to supply drinking water to 25 or more people. DEP contends that Rannels, even though he is no longer selling water, is still serving an unknown number of people.
"There is no proof that only a certain number of people are drinking that water, or that they are not serving that water to others," Kasianowitz said.
What DEP wants is for Rannels to comply with the regulations or revoke his permit. If he revokes the permit, it means shutting down the facility completely.
"That's a public location, so it would most likely be shut down because we have no proof that the water's only going to four or five people," Kasianowitz said. "We don't know who is drinking that water at their houses."
Rannels said he feels DEP is trying to regulate people such as him out of business.
"Mostly it's sad. That's what it is," he said. "The government is in the business of putting people out of business. They don't care about what they're doing. They just want to generate paper."
He expressed anger and frustration that the problems continue even after he closed the site.
"I closed because of the hassle, and I'm still being hassled," he said. "I'm an old man — I'm 68 years old. I can't take this harassment. They're crazy."
Crystal Spring — not to be confused with Crystal Springs bottled water — had been selling water at the site since about 1973, according to newspaper records. It draws its water from an on-site well through a natural sandy ironstone purifier and stainless-steel casings, the report stated.
The business is near the intersection of Routes 272 and 222.
source: lancaster online
Because everyone want to depend on government for it's chlorine flavored water.
 |
| Coin-operated facility at center of quarrel |
The meeting between DEP and Lynn Rannels of Adamstown is over the state demanding that Rannels run required tests at his Crystal Spring Vended Water site.
Rannels has run the coin-operated water-dispensing business in Berks County, just north of Adamstown, for about 30 years.
Last month, DEP posted a warning to customers on Rannels' dispensing machines, saying his water had not been tested according to state standards.
Under state guidelines that went into effect in 2012, the water must be regularly tested for asbestos, synthetic organic chemicals such as pesticides and herbicides and for bacteria.
That testing, DEP spokeswoman Lisa Kasianowitz said, had not been done.
Rannels countered that he had closed the vending station, which draws its water from an on-site well some 300 feet underground, as of Jan. 1.
Rannels said only "a handful of people" still use the station, and they are his friends and family. And they can use it only if they have access to keys to unlock the pump.
"Nobody comes there for water who doesn't know where to put the key in and how to work it," Rannels said.
Kasianowitz said inspectors at the site saw people "walking back and forth filling up jugs of water, and DEP isn't going to ask them if they're family members of Mr. Rannels."
One person, she said, filled 15 jugs with water.
Rannels said he had been testing his water under previous guidelines, but that the new regulations added "another $5,000 worth of tests."
"If they don't add on more tests, they don't have anything to regulate," Rannels complained.
Kasianowitz said DEP's concern is that, even if the public is not buying water there, others are "still at risk of drinking contaminated water."
Rannels has a permit, obtained in 2003, to operate as a public water supplier. This allows him to supply drinking water to 25 or more people. DEP contends that Rannels, even though he is no longer selling water, is still serving an unknown number of people.
"There is no proof that only a certain number of people are drinking that water, or that they are not serving that water to others," Kasianowitz said.
What DEP wants is for Rannels to comply with the regulations or revoke his permit. If he revokes the permit, it means shutting down the facility completely.
"That's a public location, so it would most likely be shut down because we have no proof that the water's only going to four or five people," Kasianowitz said. "We don't know who is drinking that water at their houses."
Rannels said he feels DEP is trying to regulate people such as him out of business.
"Mostly it's sad. That's what it is," he said. "The government is in the business of putting people out of business. They don't care about what they're doing. They just want to generate paper."
He expressed anger and frustration that the problems continue even after he closed the site.
"I closed because of the hassle, and I'm still being hassled," he said. "I'm an old man — I'm 68 years old. I can't take this harassment. They're crazy."
Crystal Spring — not to be confused with Crystal Springs bottled water — had been selling water at the site since about 1973, according to newspaper records. It draws its water from an on-site well through a natural sandy ironstone purifier and stainless-steel casings, the report stated.
The business is near the intersection of Routes 272 and 222.
source: lancaster online
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