MT. JEWETT – Natural gas no longer exists in the Mt. Jewett water supply wells.

“We took samples Friday and found no gas in the wells,” said Freda Tarbell, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). “It’s very favorable.”

Once the wells went out of service, the authority had to rely on springs to produce the water needed. Due to dry conditions, the flow from the springs is not sufficient to meet the demand.

Brett Morgan, operator at the Mt. Jewett water plant, said he contacted DEP after “smelling” gas in the area of the six supplemental supply wells.

“I never smelled gas there before,” he said Friday.

The DEP inspected the site and declared the wells out of service until further tests could be conducted. Tarbell, the community relations coordinator for the DEP office in Meadville, said natural gas never was “detected” in the water distribution system in Mt. Jewett.

However, workers checking the system Sept. 25 discovered that a 100,000-gallon storage tank on High Street was not filling due to a valve problem. Repairs have been made and this tank is now filled, Morgan said Friday. A second 250,000-gallon tank, also on High Street, became the main source of water for Mt. Jewett during the shortage. No customers ever lost water service, authority spokesmen said.

To provide more water for the system, area volunteer fire departments twice in the past week used tankers to shuttle water to the reservoir at the Mt. Jewett water plant. The plant is located in a valley off Route 6 just east of Mt. Jewett.

The Nestle Corp. also donated truckloads of bottled water for Mt. Jewett residents. Cases of gallons and 20-ounce bottles were distributed to residents Tuesday and again Friday. The water was distributed from the borough garage on Center Street in Mt. Jewett.

The authority still is advising customers to “boil water” from the system before drinking. Morgan said the authority expects to be able to lift this advisory Monday pending the results of lab tests on water samples.

Tarbell said Friday that natural gas may have “migrated” into the water wells from nearby abandoned oil and gas wells. She said the DEP in two weeks would seek bids from contractors for the “plugging” of five abandoned oil and gas wells near the Mt. Jewett water plant. She said it might take until January “before they can be plugged.”

Tarbell said the two springs at the Mt. Jewett water plant “have not been impacted” by gas from the abandoned oil and gas wells. She said the DEP suspects that natural gas may have migrated into the water wells “from time to time” over the years.

“You don’t know how long this has been going on,” she said. “There’s always that potential.”

She said the plugging of the abandoned oil and gas wells nearby is “a priority” for the DEP.