BARNET - The town of Barnet has been facing an issue for the last 10 years with an oil leak from the Passumpsic Village Store. The leak started to occur 20 years ago but it was not addressed until ten years later when the town of Barton bought the property from the landowner.

"Typically what happened with old filling stations and old machinery places, there was oil it was dumped it was spilled what have you, tanks would rust through and leak and it becomes a problem" said select board member Ted Ferris. Bruce Marston, a Passumpsic Resident, was one of the people affected by this leak. Tests were on his well and gas particles were found. Forcing him and his wife to only drink bottled water supplied by the state. Marston says "Our well is three hundred and twenty feet deep so the gas station is just over the hill, well three hundred and twenty feet is just deep enough so that the gas from those leaking tanks could have gone in our well, what else could it have been."

With the former owner of the Passumpsic Village Store unable to come up with the money for the fix, the town of Barnet had to step in. Ferris said "I think we are responsible for the first ten- thousand and then the state picks it up from there so its been expensive.  We have had monitoring every six months, reports, and things of that sort, so it isn't a cheap problem."

The problem has been resolved as of now but Marston is still skeptical. "We do still drink the bottled water.  Once you have that in your well your a little nervous even though the well is now clean, they keep testing it because it can test good then it can test bad.  You never know."

The issue has now been placed in the town warning and will be talked about during the town meeting.