A business in Wapello has to pay a $4,400 penalty for not complying with a public water supply system permit according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. The Casey’s General Store in rural Wapello entered into the administrative consent order with the DNR and both parties agree to the issuance of the order. According to DNR documents, Casey’s provides drinking water to property at 13410 Highway 78, Newport Junction and the Subway restaurant located there. The water supply is classified as a transient non-community system that serves approximately 715 people on a daily basis. The water is from a well that is located outside near the back of the building. Since 2015, the DNR has contacted the company multiple times for failure to submit monthly operations reports and for other issues including conduit not sealed properly and chlorine tests not being completed routinely. In May 2015, the DNR approved an agreement between Casey’s and Raymond Francis for Francis to be the affidavit operator for the facility. In August 2017, a notice of violation was sent to Casey’s for a crack identified in the conduit below the location that it meets the bottom of the well cap and that monthly reports had not been submitted as required by the permit. The next month the DNR sent a letter of noncompliance to Casey’s in which it acknowledged that Casey’s had not maintained its total chlorine residual above the minimum requirement.

Between July 17 and September 6 of 2018, DNR staff went to Casey’s eight times to check chlorine levels and tests indicated proper levels were not being maintained. On September 6, 2018, DNR staff met with Francis who admitted to only checking chlorine two or three times per month and that he had falsified data on the monthly reports for several years. On September 13, 2018 Casey’s was cited for failure to submit timely monthly operations reports, failure to measure and record chemical usage and residuals of daily chlorine, failure to maintain adequate chlorine residual, and failure to collect or report chlorine residuals with routine and repeat coliform bacteria samples.

The DNR orders and Casey’s agrees to comply with its public water supply system permit and pay a penalty of $4,400 within 30 days. The documents state that Casey’s neither admits nor denies the statements in the report, and enters into the agreement for the purpose of settlement.