UPDATE: Mountaire offers deep well installation to homes near Millsboro after nitrate level incident
Mountaire Farms announced last Friday that it will be offering complimentary installation of deep wells and the appropriate conditioning systems (or possibly a public water supply option) to owners of about 88 properties in an area south and west of its Millsboro facility, regardless of the levels of nitrates found on their properties.
The service will reportedly be offered as a possible replacement for the bottled water and filtration systems that Mountaire Farms has provided to the property owners since the wastewater incident that happened last August.
Michael Tirrell, Mountaire Executive Vice President of Processing Operations, says, "Mountaire Farms has been an integral community partner and economic driver in Delaware, supporting over 5,000 jobs at our plants, thousands of related jobs, and hundreds of growers and farmers in our local communities.
For over 100 years, our company has made the communities where we live and work a top priority, and we take our neighbors' concerns very seriously. We have cherished the trust of the Millsboro community for nearly two decades, and we will do everything necessary to keep that trust and continue being a good corporate neighbor for years to come."
Officials say that it is taking this action because some Millsboro residents are worried about elevated levels of nitrates in their drinking water; however, Mountaire says that high levels of nitrates are widespread throughout Sussex County and this condition has existed for many years. They say Mountaire does not believe that the recent wastewater treatment system upset is a significant source of the elevated levels.
Officials say that to date, most of the properties have shown levels of nitrates below the 10mg/ one level.
The new levels will reportedly be much deeper than most well in the area, at depths typically not impacted by nitrates commonly found in shallow groundwater. Mountaire says that it is in the process of reaching out to eligible residents about the offer.
