Dodson water boil lifted, raccoon results 'not rabid'

The Town of Dodson was under a “boil order” for most water use for residents, by order of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), for several days in mid-November according to Dodson Mayor Theresa Cole, following mismanagement of water by an out-of-town resident.

“We discovered that a person who lives outside of town was watering his livestock without the use of a back-flow valve,” Mayor Cole said. “That resulted in contamination of the entire water supply.”

Mayor Cole said that Malta Mayor John Demarais, who works with the Town of Dodson on their water supply and conducts tests on the supply monthly, confirmed the water was contaminated after receiving news from the firm of Energy Labs, in Billings Mont., where he submits the water samples.

“Energy Labs informed the DEQ and John called us to let us know,” Mayor Cole said. “He does water samples for us on a regular basis.”

Mayor Cole said that Dodson residents were informed of the “boil order” via fliers around town, social media, phone calls, and the Phillips County’s Emergency Notification System “Alertsense” auto call system. She said people were told they could not drink or cook with the water and were advised to boil any water they might use for 10-to-15 minutes. Mayor Cole said Dodson Public Schools were informed of the order and the Town of Dodson provided the school with bottled water for the duration of the order.

Mayor Cole said this emergency incident again points to how important it is for people to have their cell phone numbers and Emails registered with the Emergency Notification System “Alertsense.” Registering for the service is free and can be done online at http://public.alertsense.com (land phone lines are automatically registered with the system.)

“Please go register online if you didn’t get a call or call me and I will do it for you,” Mayor Cole said.

Mayor Cole said the citizens of Dodson were very supportive, patient, and understanding of the “boil order” and the situation was resolved as quickly as possible. As a result of the water system being contaminated, Mayor Cole said efforts will be made to check that households irrigating are in compliance and if they are not, penalties may follow.

“We will be monitoring the water very closely and steps will be made so that this doesn’t happen again,” she said. “The Town of Dodson has a section on the books which states that you have to have a backflow valve if you are irrigating. We will also be checking all rural water users from now on to make sure people are complying, and steps will be taken if people are not in compliance and they could face having their water shut off.”

In other Town of Dodson news, it was reported last September that a possibly rabid raccoon was captured in town near Bud Phillips’ home. The raccoon was killed by Phillips County Undersheriff Bert Peigneux and then sent to the State of Montana to be tested for rabies. Mayor Cole said about a month later, results of the test were negative for rabies and it is more likely that the animal was poisoned.

“And we haven’t seen any more animals acting strangely like this one was,” Mayor Cole said.