Residents in the town of Pavillion will soon be able to receive water cistern systems. A cistern is a water holding tank. Pavillion is at the center of an ongoing Environmental Protection Agency investigation on whether hydraulic fracturing has contaminated the towns drinking water.
Under a project put together by Governor Matt Mead, some Pavillion residents will be eligible to have water cisterns installed at no cost, by the state… so they can have an alternative source of water instead of using wellswhich may be contaminated. Karen Halvorsen is the Storage Tank Program Manager. She says people can call her for more information.
"As soon as we know how many people want the cistern, we will hire an engineer to design those and probably get the systems installed next spring, summer, as soon as the weather allows."
However, Halvorsen admits that it’s unclear what the eligibility requirements are, how much water the cisterns will hold, or any other specifics of the program. However, according to the Governor’s office: those participating in the program will have to agree to allow the State access to their existing wells for monitoring and testing.
