Aug 11, 2008 6:46 pm US/Eastern
E.Coli Concerns Affect Many Pembroke Restaurants
Town Hands Out Bottled Water To Residents
PEMBROKE (WBZ) ―
E.coli has found its way into the water supply in Pembroke, which means residents there can't drink their tap water unless they boil it first to kill the bacteria.
And homeowners are not the only people affected by this E.coli scare. About 20 restaurants, who really depend on families for business, are hurting badly. Many restaurants had empty dining rooms and some didn't even bother to open -- all because of E.coli bacteria.
"As soon as the problem was found it was shut down and chlorination began immediately on surrounding lines," said Fred Leary with the Health Department.
Joyce Oliveira owns Oliveira's restaurant in Pembroke. On a typical weekend her place would be filled. "It's a bad economy to begin with so with this is a like a jolt in the side."
The E.coli concerns have had a dramatic effect on local restaurants. Oliveira said it's been slower than usual because of the bacteria scare.
"We can't serve water so we have to serve bottles water and we have to charge them," said Erika Keefe of the Alumni Sports Café. "There's no coffee tea so we brought in soda cans."
Many large chain restaurants were closed for the weekend.
On Sunday, 8,000 gallons of bottled water were delivered to Pembroke High School.
On Monday, the town distributed thousands of dollars worth of bottled water between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. at the high school and will do so again on Tuesday.
The latest water samples are expected to be back at 1 p.m. Tuesday, officials said. The boil order will likely continue into Wednesay.
The town did declare a local state of emergency, which will allow the town to tap into other resources -- like MEMA -- to help supply more bottled water for residents.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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