Water District Renovations

The Town of Harford has been a customer of Thoma’s since the mid-1990’s. It is Cortland County's smallest township with respect to land area, encompassing some 23.4 square miles. The Town is home to only one “industry”, Western Energy, a storage facility for propane and butane gas which employs fewer than 10 persons.

In the early 1970’s, as part of the process to store gas underground, the company that formerly owned the Western Energy site used to pump brine into an on-site, unlined holding pond. This brine eventually migrated off-site and contaminated the wells of some 17 homes, primarily occupied by lower income households, in Harford Mills. A settlement with the company resulted in the formation of the Harford Mills Water District, a small, municipal water supply. Over the last 30 years, the water system has deteriorated, resulting in unacceptable levels of iron in the District’s drinking water, lack of water pressure, and poor chlorination. Responding to the complaints of residents, and knowing these 17 lower income homeowners would be solely responsible for the financing of a new system, Harford hired Thoma to assist in locating affordable financing for the project. With Thoma’s assistance, in 2002 the Town was successful at capturing CDBG funds to completely replace the water storage and distribution system in Harford Mills.

Having endured the contamination of their wells and the inconvenience of iron in their water, Harford Mills residents are now looking forward to a safe and reliable water system.