POTTERVILLE – A single water sample taken from a faucet inside the community clubhouse at a housing community where three families claim water and air contamination made them sick tested negative for coliform, bacteria found in feces.
The sample was taken Wednesday by Potterville city officials, a week after three families filed a lawsuit claiming Independence Commons supplied unsafe drinking water and that neither Home First, the company that owns Independence Commons, or the city addressed their concerns.
The faucet was cleaned before the test was taken, he said, and the results indicate the water is not contaminated with bacteria, he said Asked why only one test was conducted, Joseph said, "It was a representative site, and it was a site we had access to.
Before the test result was released late Thursday, Kara Weisman, an attorney representing the families filed the lawsuit, said she was glad the testing was being done quickly.
But Jordan Vahdat, who also represents the three familes, said the city’s test result from one water sample at one site is not enough to address the concerns of residents who live there.
Vahdat said his firm has "multiple tests" of water samples that were collected on Independence Commons’ property that indicate the drinking water was contaminated with coliform.
Vahdat said more than a dozen people have contacted his office with their own health concerns regarding Independence Commons, and he believes more plaintiffs will be added to the lawsuit.
See related stories: Documents obtained by the State Journal show the city’s water tested negative for coliform in each of the previous four years, but it’s unclear if the water within Independence Common’s own distribution system was being monitored over the last two decades.
Boyce said he doesn’t know if Independence Commons has conducted its own water tests on the property.
Wood said his children, ages 3 and 5, have had persistent coughs and runny noses during the time that they’ve lived at Independence Commons.