September 28th, 2015 by WCBC Radio
The Cumberland Times News reports that Paw Paw has closed the intake valve that provides municipal drinking water from the Potomac River in an effort to avoid latex that spilled into the waterway from the Verso paper mill at Luke, Md., on Sept. 23.
That information was provided to the Times-News Monday morning by Curtis Dalpra of the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin, Rockville, Md.
Dalpra said Paw Paw stopped drawing river water at 9 a.m. on Sunday, even though the water was clear. "This morning, the containment arrived (at Paw Paw) before 7:30, and has visually increased," he said, adding that the commission had not received a chemical analysis of the water from the riverside community.
Numerous communities along the Potomac River use the water for potable purposes. Among them are Berkeley County, W.Va.; Sharpsburg, Md.; Shepherdstown, W.Va.; Harpers Ferry, W.Va.; Brunswick, Md.; and Frederick County, Md., according to Dalpra.
After the commission was notified of the spill by the Maryland Department of the Environment, a spill model was used to calculate estimated times of arrival, maximum concentration and the trailing edge of the contaminant for each of the water intakes.
