Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 22, 1995 TAG: 9503220088
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BREEA WILLINGHAM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Philip Argabright, superintendent of maintenance for Roanoke County schools, and Judith Hildebrand of the state Health Department in Lexington are the man and woman Mount Pleasant residents thought were burglars.
The residents suspected the man and woman were using the water-testing story as a ruse to find out if homes they planned to burglarize were occupied. One woman said she had seen a story on a morning TV news show about similar scams around the country.
Homer Duff, director of facilities and operations for Roanoke County schools, said he was surprised to learn from a story in Tuesday's newspaper that Argabright and Hildebrand were mistaken for burglars. He immediately notified Detective Rick Moorer of the Roanoke County Police Department, who had met with about 100 worried Mount Pleasant residents Monday night.
Duff explained that the water samples were taken as part of a routine test conducted by his office. Argabright and Hildebrand merely were helping collect samples.
``We have a well that provides water to Mount Pleasant Elementary School, and we have to have the water tested on a regular basis,'' Duff said. ``The water is tested for all kind of things, such as bacteria, lead and iron.''
Traces of nitrates have been detected in the Mount Pleasant water, he said.
Water can be contaminated with nitrates if a large amount of fertilizer is used on plants or crops. Nitrates are harmful to pregnant women and children up to age 3, he said.
Duff said the county has started filtering the water to remove nitrates.
He said Hildebrand would return to the homes where water was taken to share the test results.
by CNB