The Plainville
Cit itiz ize en Plainville’s Only Weekly Newspaper
Volume 10, Number 36
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Officials declare homes contaminated after Irene By Julie Sopchak The Plainville Citizen
Some residents might have been upset when their power went out, or when a tree fell down in their yard after Tropical Storm Irene hit the area last weekend. Residents on Robert Street
Ext. and Norton Place Ext. probably wished that was all that happened. Major flooding occurred on the roads and forced residents out of their homes after the storm hit. On top of that were the hazardous health and environmental risks the waters presented,
Citizen photo by Julie Sopchak
Cheryl Iris takes a look at the water damage and contamination in her home. Anything and everything the water touched has to be discarded, she said, and mold has already begun to grow on some furniture.
being contaminated with more than 700 times the allowable level of E. coli bacteria. On Friday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency came to look at the area and assess the damage to some homes. “The waters were contaminated with sewage and oil and as a result, anything that came in contact with the flood waters are contaminated as well, so that’s a lot of belongings,” said Town of Plainville Public Health Coordinator Marco Palmeri. “Everybody’s basements were full, some people’s first floors were breached as well, so you can imagine the significant amount of items that need to be thrown away.” Palmeri said the Environmental Protection Agency has a standard of about 230 colony forming units, or cells, of E. coli per 100 milliliters of water as the permissible level for swimming — the water that flooded the area had 170,000 colony forming units per 100 milliliters. Cheryl and Frank Iris had
their entire basement flooded, with water coming up into the living quarters up to about 1 foot high. Cheryl said the house, which they’ve lived in for 19 years, is under discussion of being con-
demned. “There’s mold growing, the floors are buckling,” she said as she walked through the first floor of her house.
See FEMA, page 6
Town prepares residents for new trash collection system By Julie Sopchak The Plainville Citizen With automated trash and single-stream waste and recycling pickup beginning next week on Sept. 12, Dan Grasso, assistant to Town Manager Robert E. Lee, and Jill Latella, office
manager for Latella Rubbish Removal, swung by the Plainville Senior Center Sept. 1 to address any issues or concerns and answer any questions that residents might have about
See Trash, page 4
Events on Sept. 24 aim for fun while fundraising for two community causes By Robin Lee Michel The Plainville Citizen
On Saturday, Sept. 24, families in Plainville will be able to pack in a day of fun from 10 a.m. into the evening and it will all be for a good cause. Plainville Community Fun(d) Day and the annual Downtown Block Party will both be held that day. However, organizers do not consider the two events to be in conflict because the Fun(d) Day ends at 3 p.m. and the Block Party begins at 5 p.m. Dolly Chamberlin, chairwoman of the Plainville Community Fund, said she discussed the date with Sgt. Charles Smedick, who helps organize the annual Block Party and they both felt there was not a conflict be-
cause people are already in the frame of mind to spend the day having fun. The Plainville Community Fund, an endowed fund at Main Street Community Foundation which was created in 2007 to support local organizations and programs, is planning the second annual Fun(d) Day to alert people to the opportunities in the community and make them more aware of the organization. The event will be held at Robertson Airport on Johnson Avenue from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Plans for that day include a performance by a country western band, booths touting various programs and agencies, a child identification service presented by Plainville See Events, page 8
Citizen photo by Julie Sopchak
Residents take a look at the sample barrels brought to the Sept. 12 seminar at the Plainville Senior Center. The barrel in the foreground is the smaller, 65-gallon barrel that can be specially requested while the one behind it is the 95-gallon barrel that is distributed by default.