Feb. 8—LONACONING, Md. — A potential lawsuit against the former company responsible for maintenance of the Lonaconing area's water system will be discussed at the town's meeting next month.

The Maryland Department of the Environment on Jan. 17 ordered a boil water advisory for customers of the system due to high turbidity levels in its water.

The Maryland Environmental Service took control of the water system on an emergency basis beginning Jan. 25.

Now that remedial actions — which include connection to an Allegany County distribution system for Lonaconing Water Company customers to receive water from Frostburg — resulted in the boil advisory being lifted for most of the service area Monday, efforts will focus on the company that's been responsible for the town's water.

"We want them to be held totally accountable," Lonaconing Mayor Jack Coburn said Tuesday of Miller Environmental, Inc., based in Reading, Pennsylvania. "We hired them in good faith."

Miller Environmental did not immediately respond Tuesday to a call from Cumberland Times-News for comments.

According to the company's website, Miller Environmental provides professional operations and management services for the water industry that include the treatment of drinking water.

Coburn alleges Miller Environmental provided "fictitious numbers" and "untrue statements."

He said he received text messages from Miller Environmental about the water system at 4 p.m. Fridays for at least the last six months.

"Everything was perfect," Coburn said the messages would state.

"We severed the relationship," he said of ending the town's contractual agreement with Miller Environmental roughly two weeks ago due to "questionable activity."

Tyler Rayner, the town's administrator and clerk-treasurer, said since about the late 1990s, Lonaconing has contracted and paid Miller Environmental roughly $4.6 million.

Meeting

Roughly 80 people, including officials from Lonaconing, MDE and MES, attended a meeting Monday evening to discuss the water problems.

One of the speakers at the event was Lee Currey, director of MDE's Science Services Administration.

The process to restore safe drinking water to the Lonaconing area "took some time" due to issues including flushing of the system, he said.

"What we're doing is making sure you're protected," Currey said to water customers. "There's a full investigation underway in terms of what happened."

A partial inspection of the water system in October didn't find significant problems at that time, he said.

A full inspection in September 2021 also indicated the system was functioning properly, Currey said.

Several area residents spoke at the meeting, including Midland resident Jessica Monahan, who presented a large board covered with photos of brown water.

"We've had an ongoing issue with the water," she said and added she complained in the past to town officials.

"Nothing was done," Monahan said. "I am not going to sit quietly any longer."

James Marchinke, also of Midland, said town officials should have used a better system to inform all residents of the boil water advisory.

"A lot of people don't have Facebook," he said.

Gary Holshey, assistant chief of Good Will Fire Company in Lonaconing, thanked town officials for their work to secure bottled water for residents during the boil advisory.

Holshey was one of several volunteers that handed out roughly 5,000 cases of bottled water over the past three weeks.

Coburn supplied food from his business, Coney Pizza, for the volunteers each day, Holshey said.

Upcoming

Coburn said a lawsuit against Miller Environmental will be discussed 6 p.m. March 6 at Lonaconing's regular business meeting.

Rayner said Lonaconing water customers will see a roughly 25% reduction in their April bill to help compensate for the boil water advisory, which lasted nearly three weeks.

Meanwhile, MES submitted a proposal to Lonaconing officials to operate the town's water system on a long-term basis.

Coburn said he's not sure when a decision will be made on the proposal.

The town's first priority was to get clean water to the area residents, "and then we would go to the negotiation table" for the MES proposal, he said.

Frostburg Administrator Elizabeth Stahlman on Tuesday said MES has been in charge of the city's water system since 2002.

According to the MES website, the group "employs over 700 teammates and operates more than 1,000 environmental projects across Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic Region. As a not-for-profit business unit of the state of Maryland, MES provides multi-disciplinary environmental compliance services to enhance and protect the environment through innovative solutions to the region's most complex environmental challenges."

"We do know MES has a tremendous track record," Coburn said of his confidence in the organization.

Teresa McMinn is a reporter for the Cumberland Times-News. She can be reached at 304-639-2371 or tmcminn@times-news.com.