Ouray – Blame it on the bacteria.
When BIOTA began bottling Ouray’s mountain spring water two years ago, the company touted it as some of the purest in the world.
Now BIOTA – Blame It on the Altitude – is in a down and dirty dispute with the city over the cleanliness of that water once it bubbles into the city’s collection system.
BIOTA had stopped bottling water in September after in-house and independent laboratory testing showed the plant’s water, which comes from a pipe veering off Ouray’s water line, was contaminated with mold and bacteria, including E. coli.
None of that water ever reached consumers. BIOTA shut down the plant and didn’t reopen until late December after adding an extra filter. And residential water customers weren’t affected because the city’s chlorination system kills bacteria.
Ouray is a town known for water in the form of frozen falls and natural hot springs, as well as pristine tap water. And BIOTA has put a spotlight on Ouray and made an international splash for its first-ever biodegradable bottles filled with extraordinarily clean spring water.
So anything that casts doubt on the purity of Ouray’s legendary water is bound to be cause for deep concern.
And in this case, for controversy.
While BIOTA tests show bacteria in the water that BIOTA buys under contract from the city, tests done for the city by the Colorado Water Quality Control Division and an independent water engineer show Ouray’s drinking water is clean and free of bacteria.
The city’s inspectors say some of BIOTA’s testing may have been faulty. They question whether there is really any bacteria in the water going to the $15 million, 35,000-square-foot plant at the north edge of Ouray.
“The city’s water is fine. And the water into the city’s treatment plant is fine,” said Glenn Bodnar, a drinking-water technical expert with the Colorado Water Quality Control Division. “There are a lot of places in a bottled-water company where something could go wrong.”
“This is so depressing,” said David Zutler, chief executive of BIOTA Brands of America, who has devoted the past 15 years to developing BIOTA.
“This is our water”
BIOTA had come to Ouray with fanfare befitting the first modern-day sustainable manufacturing business to locate in this mining town turned tourist mecca. Zutler had promised there would eventually be more than 100 employees and dozens of water-laden trucks leaving the plant each day.
But now the cavernous plant has only three employees. Beyond the bacteria dispute, there are matters of unpaid taxes and royalties, hints of lawsuits and community fears that an outside beverage conglomerate might buy out a struggling BIOTA and take control of some of the city’s prized water.
“This is our own freakin’ backyard. This is our water. This concerns me,” said longtime Ouray resident Sam Rushing.
BIOTA failed to pay nearly $40,000 in county taxes last year. Two construction companies had to threaten legal action before they were paid for their work on the BIOTA plant. BIOTA has not paid the city $10,000 in royalty payments. The city recently had to threaten BIOTA with closure after the company lagged on completing landscaping and cleanup measures around the plant.
Zutler blames the financial woes on the bacteria problem and what he said is the city’s failure to do anything about it or to allow BIOTA to fix it.
“Not being able to solve this for four months has really hurt our business. We were just gaining momentum when this happened,” said Zutler, who estimates the problem has cost his plant $25,000 a week in lost contracts and the rental of a new filter.
Ouray City Administrator Patrick Rondinelli counters that the city has done extra testing and paid for an outside consultant but still can’t find a problem to solve.
“BIOTA has stated they’d be willing to pay for changes. The only problem is, we’ve never found a definite contamination issue,” Rondinelli said. “If there is not something wrong, we are not going to go in and try to fix something.”
Beyond the San Juan peaks that surround this town, BIOTA water has been garnering positive attention.
Former President Clinton recently served it at his Global Initiative 2006. It has been lauded on the Food Channel and featured on the show “Unwrapped” for its corn-based bottles. It has been mentioned in The New York Times. Last year, Zutler received a standing ovation on the House floor of the Colorado legislature for being a progressive businessman who brought an innovative and clean industry to a small town.
A coveted water source
“I was heavily involved in getting the business established. It is important to Ouray. Hopefully, we can get this situation resolved,” said Rep. Ray Rose, R-Montrose.
The controversy began 9 miles above Ouray, where the Weehawken Spring bubbles up from the earth at 9,010 feet. Snowmelt has filtered down through the volcanic rock in the mountain for a century.
When Zutler had the spring tested a decade ago and found it to be “one of the highest and purest alpine springs in the world,” he went as far as to trademark the phrase “The Protected Source.” That source, he wrote on the company’s website, “guarantees that there is no chance of any type of contamination from outside influences, such as agriculture, mining, etc.”
“I still believe that source is pure,” Zutler said.
But Zutler began to question the city’s maintenance of its collection and delivery system from that source on Sept. 11, 2006, when routine tests performed hourly at the plant showed E. coli in water. Zutler stopped operations and advised city officials of the problem. BIOTA officials took water samples at spring boxes – watertight collection boxes that isolate spring water from surface contaminants – and at the end of the city’s pipeline and sent them to the National Testing Laboratories in Cleveland. Bacteria were found in both.
The city quickly called in water experts. They didn’t find the contamination. They did find that the water meets all state and Environmental Protection Agency requirements.
But as recently as three weeks ago, BIOTA’s independent laboratory found that samples taken outside the city’s treatment building still show contamination.
The Food and Drug Administration, which regulates bottled water, has not taken any action in the matter because the plant voluntarily shut down when a problem was found. The International Bottled Water Association, which requires more stringent testing than the FDA, said the plant is a member in good standing.
State and federal water officials also have no problems with the job Ouray has done in monitoring and keeping its drinking water clean. On the advice of a water engineer, the city does plan to add twice-a-year tests at the source and to perform annual maintenance of the spring boxes.
Rondinelli said he is confident that the water the city provides its residents – and its bottling plant – is good. As proof, he said he drinks BIOTA every day.
“I still have confidence in their water,” Rondinelli said.
Staff writer Nancy Lofholm can be reached at 970-256-1957 or nlofholm@denverpost.com.
