Water Customers Lose Service After Death Of Utility Owner

Ratepayers in a Pennsylvania town lost water service for two days this summer after the owner of their utility company died.

Officials at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) are investigating the situation, but they are running into a major obstacle: They “can’t find who is responsible for maintaining the facilities inside the community,” WNEP reported.

Sun Valley Water Company “is without any management or staff of any kind, after owner Donald Cameron died [earlier this year],” the Pocono Record reported, citing the DEP.

Cameron “apparently designated no one to succeed him and left no instructions on how to handle Sun Valley Water Company affairs,” the Record reported.

DEP officials did not make a statement about whether customers should go on paying their bills. The agency is also in talks with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission on the matter.

“All we know is there is no responsible party to operate or to take control or ownership of this water facility,” DEP spokeswoman Colleen Connolly said, per the report. “We’re going to take a look at our legal options to see what we can do.”

A resident with a key to the well house turned the water back on, but it is unclear exactly what happened. “That information was relayed to Connolly by a DEP staff investigator. She didn’t know who the resident is, what may have been done to restart the water well pump, or why the deceased owner entrusted the resident with a key,” the report said.

It is unclear exactly who is responsible for the company.

“The sole identified owner of the system — Donald G. Cameron of Emmaus — died during the month leading up to the June 30 loss of water pressure, DEP spokeswoman Colleen Connolly said. Whether Cameron actually was the owner is in dispute. There are no identified living owners or employees,” the Pocono Record reported in a separate piece.

Other stories about the people behind water utilities can be found at Water Online’s Labor Solutions Center.