In an effort to address critical water outages affecting the Andrews Farm neighborhood of Boxford, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey signed a state of emergency allowing the Department of Public Utilities to intervene, as detailed in a series of statements by Boxford Town Administrator Matt Coogan, the Boxford neighborhood has been grappling with a lack of running water for two days, striking at the heart of daily life for 53 residences on Andrews Farm Road and Upton Lane, and triggering government-level action to restore essential services.
The situation arose from persistent service disruptions, a publicly owned well managed by the Andrews Farm Water Company has failed to meet the community's needs, and attempts to reach the company went unanswered, as reported by both WCVB and CBS Boston, the Boxford Board of Health issued an emergency declaration, backed by the recommendation of the governor's office, due to the water company's failure to provide safe, reliable drinking water and the lack of response in a public health situation was noted as unacceptable and deplorable by Coogan.
Residents like Jeremy Reese, who spoke with WCVB, have been enduring significant inconveniences, unable to perform basic household tasks such as washing dishes or clothes, further exacerbating a difficult living situation, particularly for families like his with children in the house. Resident Laura Leduc also expressed the toll the situation takes, stating, "It's exhausting," in an interview with CBS Boston. The town and state are working to rectify the issue, with the DPU set to install a new operator for the water system.
To mitigate the hardship faced by residents, the Boxford Fire Department has been distributing bottled water and providing amenities such as bathrooms, showers, and bottle-filling stations at the fire station, and a tanker truck with water was scheduled for delivery by Thursday morning, as Coogan remarked in his statements to WCVB.
