Be Aware Of Erroneous Water Quality Solicitations

By John Voket

Newtown residents who may recall incidents of uranium-tainted wells several years ago might want to keep an eye out for mailings bearing official-looking inscriptions from the Office of Water Quality. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has put a water testing company on written notice, asking company officials to explain potentially misleading mailings sent to hundreds of residents concerning arsenic-tainted water in Woodbridge recently.

American Water Council LLC — doing business as AquaMD — apparently sent letters to some 900 residents in the Woodbridge area after arsenic was found in an area well. While it may be appropriate for residents to test their water, Mr Blumenthal said AquaMD’s solicitations to consumers offering water testing services contained questionable misleading information.

Although Newtown Health District Director Donna Culbert has not received any recent reports of solicitations about water testing recently, she said on occasion someone calls the local office asking about fliers or memos from water testing companies.

“Periodically I’ll get calls about water testing companies, but this is the first time I’ve ever heard of one directly referencing a contamination problem,” Ms Culbert said.

The Health District Director was serving as Newtown’s Director of Environmental Health about six years ago when she took part in a townwide sampling of about 50 wells for uranium, which apparently was seeping in from certain areas of bedrock.

“We only found three wells with any significant levels of contamination, but much like in cases with radon, there is no real predictability,” she said. “One house can have it and all the rest of the homes in the same neighborhood can come up clean.”

Following a spate of complaints from the Woodbridge area, Mr Blumenthal wrote a letter to AquaMD seeking an explanation about representations made in the company’s mailings — including a return address identifying them as Office of Water Quality. The AG said this statement, and other parts of the mailing, may mislead residents to believe the company is an official governmental entity, inducing them into paying for the company’s services.

Mr Blumenthal said he is also concerned about suggestions in the mailings that residents call certain local medical professionals — naturopathic doctors, not medical doctors — and representations that suggest residents’ own water is contaminated.

“To protect the well of public trust, we must ensure that sales pitches about arsenic-tainted water wells don’t mislead or misrepresent,” Mr Blumenthal said. “These mailings seem to border on scare tactics — and suggest that AquaMD is an official governmental entity, apparently intended to in-duce residents to pay for water testing. Concerns about possibly contaminated well water are real and significant, and should not be exploited.

“My office is seeking an explanation for possible misleading or questionable statements in these mailings ... and implications that residents’ wells are tainted,” he added.

Mr Blumenthal has asked the company to provide explanations for claims that AquaMD made in its mailings, including:

The company’s use of OFFICE OF WATER QUALITY as its title on its return address.

The envelope also contains the words NOTICE OF CONTAMINATED WELL WATER. The AG  has asked AquaMD to explain this representation.

The mailing suggests that “Drinking bottled or filtered water is not a cure-all. Why? Because you can be exposed to toxins when you shower, bathe, wash fruits/vegetables, wash laundry, or use water in other ways.” Mr Blumenthal has asked the company to provide copies of all scientific studies and reports upon which several claims in the mailing are based.

The mailing urges residents with contaminated water to contact one of three doctors for assistance, and lists the names of three licensed practitioners of naturopathy. Mr Blumenthal has asked the company to explain the medical basis for this directive and to disclose what, if any, relationship or financial interest these three individuals have with AquaMD or its affiliates.

Ms Culbert wanted to assure all Newtown residents that any legitimate notifications about contaminated water would be clearly marked as coming from either her office or the CT Department of Public Health.

“Newtown residents should not be getting anything that looks like local or government notices from water testing companies,” she said. “Anyone receiving any type of notices referencing water or other public health issues should contact our office immediately at 270-4291.”