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By LOU HATTER
Rapfwhannoclt New* Staff Writer
Residents stopping for a refreshing drink at the popular spring on U.S. 211 just below the Skyline Drive last week found a new addition at the ancient stone springbox: Large red and white signs stating “NOTICE, Contaminated Water, Do Not Drink.”
The signs have brought a flurry of telephone calls to the National Park Service headquarters in Luray, which referred inquiries to the Rappahannock County Health Department.
There, harried office manager Charlotte Freeman told callers they should contact District Sanitarian Charles Shepherd. “The telephone has been pretty hot over this,” she added.
On Tuesday, Mr. Shepherd said that the signs "were posted in response to a complaint received by the State Health Commissioner, Dr. C.M.G. Buttery. Mr. Shepherd added that, about two months ago, his office received an inquiry from someone who asked about the safety of the water from the spring.
That person was told, he said, that the spring has been tested in the past and found to be contaminated with coloform bacteria. The caller was also told, Mr. Shepherd added, that the health department does not recommend drinking from mountain springs.
Unsatisfied with that answer, the complaintant wrote directly to the state health commissioner. That letter was passed back down to Mr. Shepherd for action, he said.
Mr. Shepherd said that his office was unsure about its jurisdiction, but finally determined that the springbox is on the Virginia Department of Transportation’s right-ofway, although the watershed which feeds the spring is in the Shenandoah National Park and thus under the jurisdiction of the federal Department of the Interior.
As best he can determine, Mr. Shepherd said, the springbox was built during the 1930s to serve the workers building U.S. 211 and the Skyline Drive. Since then, it has been a popular stop for people seeking untreated, “natural” spring water. On weekends, lines are common at the spring, and people arriving with car trunks full of gallon milk jugs and large glass bottles to take the water home.
The sanitarian said that past tests done at the spring indicated that it is contaminated with simple coloform bacteria, which he said is considered “prima facia evidence” of contamination by groundwater
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