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Show A-6 The Park Record Continued from A-5 Tainted water health risks at multiple churchowned facilities, trusting that their fellow believers would eventually make good on promises to correct the problem. Preparation for the annual Aspencrest trip began months in advance. There were handmade journals to craft and camp songs to memorize. The first day was usually filled with mishaps as we learned to pitch our tents on the steep, sunny hillside. The bishop of our congregation would arrive later, driving a taco cart from which he sold cinnamon tortillas. We swam in the ice-cold creek, trying not to lose the flimsy water shoes required by our adult chaperones, who feared leeches. We sang and danced, and occasionally one of our more permissive leaders helped us sneak away to Kamas, the nearest town, to buy illicit milkshakes. I looked forward to the pivotal spiritual fireside — a candlelight meeting at which we revealed our deepest secrets and pledged loyalty to our church. To countless girls like me, the camp was a safe place to test the waters of adulthood, while savoring the last days of our childhood. We worried about small things — what our friends would think of our makeup-free pimples, or whether poison ivy grows in Utah. But we never doubted the safety of Aspencrest. Though Aspencrest is not the largest recreational facility owned by the LDS Church, state records suggest as many as 600 campers are there during any given week. At least 90 Salt Lake-area congregations — each representing about 300 members — are assigned to the camp. Most girls between 12 and 16 will spend a week there each year; many young women return in subsequent years as volunteer camp leaders. The spring from which Aspencrest draws its drinking water has a history of bacterial contamination. According to an August 2018 memo, the camp’s primary DENNIS HANLON Your Tuhaye and Talisker Club Connection Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, September 14-17, 2019 water source has tested positive for coliform bacteria since 1995. Tests reveal that the bacteria were still present as of June 2019. Coliform bacteria are found in animal and human digestive tracts and feces, as well as in soil and plant material. Most coliforms are harmless, but federal rules do not permit them in drinking water because their presence indicates that the water may have been contaminated by fecal material. And potentially serious diseases can be caused by fecal contamination, including illnesses triggered by some kinds of E. coli, which can cause stomach cramps, nausea and diarrhea. The camp was told to fix the problem by June 30, 2019 — but the state water department let it slide. Under normal circumstances, the state would note such noncompliance on Aspencrest’s public drinking water report card. If They were such religious zealots that (they believed you could) do whatever you want, because God wouldn’t let something bad happen,” Steve Onysko, former state water engineer the camp accumulated sufficient points, either due to multiple infractions or because violations had been ignored for lengthy periods of time, its approval to provide public drinking water could be revoked. By early July, the division had yet to add any infraction to the camp’s report card, even though the spring had again tested positive for bacterial contamination the previous month. Instead, the Utah Division of Drinking Water offered to let Aspencrest maintain its clean record in exchange for the church’s promise that Aspencrest would chlorinate its drinking water permanently, in spite of previous communications in which the division asserted that chlorination was not an acceptable long-term remedy. A July 2015 letter from the Utah Division of Drinking Water shows that while state regulators gave Aspencrest permission to install a disinfection system to temporarily address the contamination, they warned that camp managers would have to prove that “ongoing disinfection/chlorination is for precautionary purposes at a safe water supply rather than remedial purposes at an unsafe water supply.” This is not the first time the Division of Drinking Water turned a blind eye to the camp’s water problems, according to Steve Onysko, a Utah state water engineer who spent nearly 20 years at the Utah Division of Drinking Water. Onysko, a middle-aged man with graying hair, contacted me during the summer of 2018, when I was working as a reporter at Utah’s flagship daily, The Salt Lake Tribune. Onysko had spent years documenting situations where division staffers had, in his opinion, failed to fulfill their duty to uphold the state’s drinking water standards. In late 2017, Onysko was fired from the department after an investigation into a work-place abuse complaint. Onysko, who believes he was dismissed for whistleblowing, has filed suit against his former employer. In court filings, the Utah Division of Drinking Water has acknowledged that Onysko’s professional competence was never in question. Onysko claims that as long as the church agreed to fix any problems, the agency would waive normal public penalties and the church’s water problems would remain unrecorded, although the division denies this. Onysko alleges that the department wanted to avoid worrying parishioners or parents who send their children to camps like Aspencrest. Should Aspencrest’s disinfection system fail for any reason the untreated water could allow live bacteria into the system, potentially sickening hundreds of unsuspecting campers. Despite repeated warnings from state drinking water regulators, the water at Aspencrest continues to fall short of state drinking water standards. The disinfection system is a flimsy safeguard against sickness, Onysko says. Should Aspencrest’s disinfection system fail for any reason — during a power outage, for example — the untreated water could allow live bacteria into Please see Tainted, A-7 COME HOME TO TUHAYE A Spectacular Golf Course Community Just Minutes from Park City 435.640.5851 dennis.hanlon@sothebysrealty.com The Talisker Club at Tuhaye is undergoing a $20 million expansion. Call me for details and for properties that may not be listed but are available. CROWN JEWEL OF TUHAYE 3595 Ridgeway Drive 4 BD | 6 BA | 6,345 SF | $3,250,000 Talisker Club Membership Included DEER VALLEY®, TIMPANOGOS AND GOLF COURSE VIEWS 9861 N Timpanogos Circle 1.45 Acres | $749,500 Talisker Club Membership Deposit Included INCREDIBLE GOLF COURSE LOT IN TUHAYE 9990 N Uinta Drive 1.41 Acres | $950,000 Talisker Club Membership Included PANORAMIC VIEWS FROM UINTAS TO DEER VALLEY® 9393 N Uinta Drive 4 BD | 6 BA | 6,635 SF | $2,950,000 Talisker Club Membership Included GREAT VIEWS AND EASY TO BUILD LOT 9420 N Uinta Drive 1.17 Acres | $285,000 No Membership Included This material is based upon information that we consider reliable, but because it has been supplied by third parties, we cannot represent that it is accurate or complete, including price, or withdrawal without notice; square footage is an estimate only. ©MMXIX Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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