Residents of Elephant Rock Mobile Home Park have been refusing to use the groundwater provided to them, citing concerns of contamination. State legislators have received reports of discolored and pungent water.
Officials who reviewed the area found that the two groundwater wells were filled with toxic amounts of radium, which has been left untested – violating the federal water standards. These residents have decided to seek help from nonprofit Colorado Poverty Law Project.
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment records show that some residents have previously filed complaints since March 2020. Some individuals have refused to file complaints, due to having low-income, out of fear they’ll be forced to be evicted from their homes.
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Contaminated Water
Because of these complaints, they suspect other mobile home parks are affected too. Residents from Mountainside Estates in Golden, and Peak View Park in Woodland Park have filed complaints – partially due to the state not allowing water testing until this year.
A resident from Apple Tree, Danule Feichko, has said the home park’s owners don’t care about their water conditions. Previously, Elephant Rock’s owner, Lucky Oliver Kim Jr. received a lawsuit after failing to remedy the problem.
Kim Jr. was asked to pay a fine of $70,000 prompting him to promise he’ll act on it, but so far he hasn’t submitted any plans or done anything to change the state of the water. His father, the first owner, had also received suits from the state’s Health Department for failing to provide clean drinking water to residents.
As a result of these concerns, House Bill 1257 was created, signed, and passed. This bill will allow the state’s health department to test waters in several mobile home parks for the following five years. In addition, park owners must resolve issues with contaminated water.
State Rep. Elizabeth Velasco commented that everyone deserves proper living conditions.
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Sources: NBC News
