By: Dexter Hill Eric Pierce, city editor of The Downey (Calif.) Patriot, is blasting city officials on his blog for leaving his newspaper in the dark.
On Tuesday, The Associated Press reported that bacteria was discovered in the Southern California town?s water supply -- creating the need for local residents to boil water before drinking. The only problem is, the Patriot was not informed of the bacteria problems, and the earliest some residents heard the news was from the local FOX news broadcast that night. Even Pierce got his news from other sources.
?The AP is reporting that bacteria was discovered in Downey?s water supply on Tuesday. The city announced the contamination last night, so why the delay?? he writes. ?I don?t know, but people are already plenty upset about the city?s perceived lack of communication to its residents.?
Pierce told E&P he found out about the water contamination at about 1 a.m., ?when one of our writers was driving through Downey and saw one of the flooded streets.? He has received numerous phone calls and e-mails from frustrated Downey residents seeking information.
According to a story on the paper?s Web site Friday, bacteria was found at three of 25 sampling locations. City maintenance crews had to flush the bad water out of fire hydrants overnight, and chlorine is being used to remedy already tainted pipelines. City officials say that the water is fine for showering but should not be ingested by pets, infants, or anyone else unless boiled first.
Residents are mostly upset about the state of communications, Pierce added: ?People can?t get through to City Hall!?
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