MIDDLEBURY, Vt. (WCAX) – Many people in Middlebury are still without potable water following widespread water main issues.
85-year-old Victor Bergevin still remembers when pipes were installed on his Middlebury farm in 1965. Back then, a pipe break meant thirsty cows.
“I thank the lord I’m not feeding one hundred cows,” Bergevin said, smiling.
Today, a pipe break means hours spent boiling water. Bergevin and his caretaker, Claire Menard, have been under a boil water advisory for two weeks.
“Pretty murky,” Menard says, holding up a clouded glass of tap water.
The town says a fire hydrant recently froze in an open position, flooding and damaging the nearly 100-year-old pipe system. Some residents lost water for days and many are still unable to drink from the tap.
“We still got some water but we always wonder will it be there or not be there?” Menard said. “So that’s why we’re preparing to be able to, you know, take care of ourselves.”
Neighbors down the road say this is just the most recent snag in a long saga to restore the pipes. Ashley Jerger says her family has experienced on and off water issues since they moved to Middlebury in August.
“We have to go to the store constantly to get bottled water and it does get pricey after a while,” Jerger explained.
Jerger’s next-door neighbor, Cindy Cloutier, says she wants the town to take accountability.
“I’m tired of it. You know we pay good money, so we should be able to have our drinking water,” Cloutier said.
Town leaders are requesting a local declaration of emergency from Governor Scott. In the meantime, residents are settling in for a potential long-haul, with emergency management estimating months before all leaks and breaks are patched up.