Lamoille County and neighboring towns have certainly seen their share of rainfall this summer, resulting in catastrophic flooding, damage to houses, farms, roadways, and infrastructure, and the contamination of many towns’ drinking water systems.
For over a week, water storage tanks and daily tractor trailers hauling water have been the norm at Copley. “While we are grateful the restrictions were lifted last Wednesday, we would be remiss in not thanking N.A. Manosh Corp., the State of Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, FEMA, and the town of Stowe for keeping our water system afloat and flowing,” said Copley’s VP of Development and Marketing Trish Rick. “The situation could have been much worse had it not been for the immediate action of Manosh who had their potable water tanker and hauler trucks at Copley shortly after the ‘do not drink the water’ notice was issued the morning of July 11.”
“Water is essential to our operations,” said Mark Sutton, Director of Facilities, Safety and Security. “In addition to plumbing and heating needs, water is necessary in areas that impact patient care, including surgical operations, food services, inpatient care, and more.” Sutton noted that the hospital would have been in a difficult spot had Manosh not been able to tie into the hospital’s water system and had haulers been unable to make daily deliveries. “Their support allowed us to operate as close to normal as possible under these extremely challenging circumstances,” continued Sutton.
In addition to the haulers, the hospital received deliveries of bottled water from The Alchemist, the local Hannaford, community members, and the state. “As well as ensuring staff received bottled water, we shared it with our community partners, including the Manor, Lamoille Health Partners, and Lamoille Home Health & Hospice,” said Sutton.
“We are grateful beyond words for the support we received,” concluded Rick.