Massachusetts City Seeks $1.3M from Water Contractor

The city of Gloucester, Massachusetts has filed a $1.3 million insurance claim against the company that ran its drinking water system during last summer’s contamination crisis that required a nearly three-week long boil order.

City lawyer Suzanne Egan tells The Gloucester Daily Times that in the claim filed last month the city alleges “breach of contract” by United Water.

The claim includes $814,000 in direct costs as well as an estimate of lost water bill collections.

United Water ran the city’s drinking water treatment and sewage plants for five years until November when Veolia Water won a new five-year contract.

A water boil order was in place in most of Gloucester for 20 days after coliform bacteria contamination.