Preble man's 5-year fight with flammable tap water finally gets state attention

PREBLE, N.Y. — For more than 20 years, Frank Holden has been living in his Preble home doing everyday tasks like drinking water, taking a shower and doing laundry, just like everyone else.

Over the years, he noticed that his tap water tasted like iron, but it was five years ago he noticed something far more alarming — he learned that there was natural gas in his water that could be lit on fire.

"Basically, I just want it fixed, that's all. I just want it fixed."

Holden was fighting tirelessly to get the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) attention.

Following CNY Central's initial report on this issue on April 4, the DEC finally answered his calls for help.

Walter Hang is the president of Toxics Targeting, a New York-based environmental data-gathering and advocacy group. He believes that the media’s attention to this problem is the spark that got the DEC to finally come to investigate this in person.

“We've had these problems for years and years and finally, it's getting attention,” said Hang.

The DEC will check the water well for issues related to depth, age, and size. Hopefully, the state will find out where the gas is coming from.

“They don't want to admit their regulatory enforcement is dreadfully insufficient; that they ignored this New York state taxpayers' concerns for nearly five years and that it's not just Mr. Holden. That in fact, there are problems all across the state of New York documented with their own data," Hang said.

Initially, the representatives with the DEC told Holden they wouldn’t do anything on the property with the media present. When CNY Central left, the DEC representatives investigated the well.