HAZLE TOWNSHIP -- After years of water woes, one Luzerne County village is getting a new flow of clean water, but not everyone is on board.
State Senator John Yudichak recently announced a $2.2 million grant to bring filtered water to 40 homes in the Hazleton area. Before now, people in the villages known as "Stockton 6" and "Stockton 8" got their water from wells or a reservoir, a reservoir that went unfiltered.
Every week, Elizabeth Mullin spends $25 on bottled water for her home in Stockton 8 because they've been told time and time again, the water out of the faucet just isn't safe.
"We got all these houses out here that we paid our hard earned money for and have water we can't use," said Mullin.
Just last July, the DEP put a ban on the water because it was contaminated with the giardia cyst, which can cause a serious illness.
"They said they didn't want us cooking in it, washing our clothes in it," Mullin added. "It's bad. It's really bad."
"DEP has tested it," said Sen. John Yudichak. "Clearly there are contaminants, parasites, [and it's] unsafe for drinking, unsafe for human consumption. We needed to change that."
But there are those here opposed to the project, saying they don't need clean water, they already have it.
"I've been drinking that water for 40 something years and I've never gotten sick," said Louis DeAngelo.
DeAngelo lives in Stockton 8 and owns three wells. He had his wife, Julie, show Newswatch 16 their water from the tap. Water they say is just fine without the government's help.
"I have those wells and I'm not going on that water line," DeAngelo added. "They can stand on their head and turn blue and turn purple, I'm not going on those water lines."
The grant will fund two miles of a 12-inch water line into those two communities.
