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                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, February 20, 1993                   TAG: 9302200226
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A5   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

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WATER DEADLINES SET

Under a court agreement reached Friday, the owner of a Bedford County mobile home park was given three years to fix a tainted-water problem at the trailer park or face renewed criminal charges.

D.J. Cooper must have the water problems fixed at his Hardy Road Trailer Park outside Vinton by February 1996, Bedford Circuit Judge William Sweeney ordered in accepting the agreement worked out between prosecutors and Cooper.

Cooper also will be required to meet a series of deadlines imposed by the state Department of Health on meeting with department staff, submitting engineering plans and signing construction contracts.

The state is requiring Cooper to install a filtration system to counter excessive levels of iron and manganese in the water. About 87 mobile homes are affected.

Several of these deadlines will need to be met over the next six months. "So, we'll know early on whether he's going to be in compliance or not," said Bedford County Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Randy Krantz.

Failure to meet the deadlines or fix the problem will land Cooper back in court, facing criminal charges and fines of $5,000 or more.

Previously, Cooper had been ordered to pay the $5,000 fine for not fixing the water problems. He appealed that decision to Sweeney, but Friday agreed to sign a consent order with the Health Department.

The department has said the iron and manganese levels do not pose a public-health hazard, but they can stain clothes and give drinking water a foul odor and taste.

The cost to fix the water problem is estimated at $35,000 to $80,000.

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