BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. — Representatives from the City of Bridgeport Office of Emergency Management want to advise residents to disregard a recent notice regarding the safety of the city water supply.
After reports were received from residents related to the safety of water at Bridgeport and in Clarksburg, officials confirmed that the water supply for both cities are just fine despite dozens of false reports that were received Thursday afternoon. Director of Emergency Management at the City of Bridgeport Tim Curry offered an update to ease resident concerns after an unknown source sent the false report which included a call for a public meeting later in the afternoon.
“That is completely untrue, we’ve had no issues with water at all and we don’t even have any water leaks going on today,” said Curry. “So there’s nothing that could’ve been misconstrued as that and there are no public meetings goin on this evening,” he said.
According to Curry, reports were received regarding the false notifications at around 1 p.m. on Thursday. The reports included a formal alert that appeared to have been sent by City of Bridgeport emergency officials and did not include the usual formal water notices that are given in the Mountain State when boil water notices are administered. To emphasize the current safety of the water supplies for the cities of Bridgeport and Clarksburg, Curry added that the water supply was tested on Thursday afternoon which included a double checking of water lines.
“We’re unsure of the source that they came from but they were alluding to Bridgeport and Clarksburg water being unsafe to consume and that there was a public meeting that was going to happen this evening,” said Curry in regards to the false alert and what was said.
In the event of an emergency, Curry stated that the City of Bridgeport Office of Emergency Management would notify residents through the City of Bridgeport’s numerous social media and notification efforts which would be sent in mass in the event a water advisory needs to be released. This would include correspondence with the Clarksburg Water Board, which oversees the supply for the city, and information on how to proceed whether it would be boiling water or finding some other source.
“We work very closely with Clarksburg Water Board to monitor water quality and if there ever is an issue we let people know as soon as possible,” said Curry. “And we have nothing like that going on,” he said.
As an investigation into what caused the false reports to be sent to Bridgeport residents begins, the City of Bridgeport Office of Emergency Management will continue to be in constant communications with utility officials, local leaders and local press to keep the public informed of any emergencies. As of this writing, no insight into a possible hack or some other activity has been determined into what led to the false reports being sent out. In the meantime, Bridgeport residents are advised that they do not need to worry about their water supply and if their is an emergency, they will be properly notified.
“We want the public to have faith in us that we’re going to inform them when things are going on,” said Curry. “So when something like this goes on, we’re able to inform them that that is false, and not something that’s coming from us,” he said.