Members of Lititz Borough Council announced at Tuesday night's meeting they were ending an investigation into the construction of a hog-farm operation west of town in Penn Township and into allegations a borough employee made false statements about it.

Council looked at several issues surrounding Lexington Acres Farm, owned by Dale Rohrer, at 762 W. Lexington Road. The farm, which began breeding operations in January 2005, houses 2,800 sows and produces 50,000 to 60,000 piglets a year.

The state Department of Environmental Protection ordered Rohrer to dig three groundwater-monitoring wells by July 31, 2006, and pour reinforced concrete walls against the existing block walls in three hog barns by Dec. 31, 2006, after it determined the barns were not built to state standards.

Council member James Wynkoop said he was satisfied with DEP's actions to fix the problems at Rohrer's farm.

"It doesn't matter so much to me if the Rohrer farm followed every point of the law," Wynkoop said at the meeting. "We've got to rely on DEP to make sure that operation is safe.

"Our concern is Lititz water. Period. And I think everyone in this room — the reason they're here — they want to know their drinking water is safe."

Dave Kneller, a former employee of Northeast Agrisystems of Lititz, which designed and built three hog barns on Rohrer's farm, told council at last month's meeting that statements made by borough employee Carl Kline and officials regarding Rohrer's operation were false or inaccurate.

After hearing Kneller's statements, Council president John Riegel called for tests of the borough's seven wells to get baseline measurements of nitrate levels in the untreated water.

Kline, area manager of Severn Trent Environmental Services and a 24-year veteran of Lititz Water System, and another employee took water samples of the wells Monday morning. Kline said the results should be available in two to three weeks.

Riegel also asked Kneller to list the statements he said were false. Kneller sent a list of 10 statements the following weeks, including several from Kline.

According to Kneller, Kline said on Jan. 31, 2006, that, "DEP has found no evidence of deficiencies with the Rohrer hog-farm operations."

More than a month before Kline's statement, high-level officials at DEP were discussing the Rohrer farm and its alleged deficiencies.

Rusty Diamond, south-central director for DEP, e-mailed DEP Secretary Kathleen McGinty on Dec. 28, 2005, saying the Rohrer barns did not meet the state standards for "liquid tightness." "This situation is especially sensitive because the (Rohrer) facility is located within the Lititz wellhead protection area," Diamond wrote.

Council required Kline to address Kneller's accusations in writing.

Kline pointed out an item Kneller highlighted about nitrate levels in the monitoring wells at Rohrer's farm in March 2007.

Kline said it was true that Rohrer's three monitoring wells were discovered to have nitrate levels of 24.6, 27 and 27.6 parts per million. The federal limit is 10 ppm. Kline said Kneller left out a fourth well that had a reading of 4.56 ppm.

However, Kline apparently quoted the wrong test reading for the fourth well in his report. According to DEP documentation, that well actually tested at 25.1 ppm.

The results from the June 2007 tests at Rohrer's monitoring wells put the nitrate levels at 24.6, 25.6 and 26.7 ppm.

Kneller also said a DEP well test at Rohrer's farm conducted in November 2006 showed a fecal coliform matter reading of 52 colonies. According to the EPA Web site, the legal limit for fecal coliform — which comes only from human and animal fecal waste — in water is zero.

Council members Karen Weibel, Joe Kane and Wynkoop said they were uncomfortable going ahead with an investigation. Wynkoop said he was satisfied with Kline's responses to Kneller's questions. "I think we asked our expert, 'Is our drinking water safe?' " Wynkoop said. "And I think we have to go by what (Kline) tells us."

In addition to the debate at Tuesday's council meeting, minutes from the Feb. 27 meeting of Lititz Run Watershed Alliance were viewable on the Warwick Township Web site.

In the minutes, Warwick Township Manager Dan Zimmerman states the township was contacted by U.S. Geological Survey, which did supplemental testing of the water in Lititz Run below the borough's sewer treatment plant.

The USGS reported finding low concentrations of pharmaceutical compounds in Lititz Run below the sewer treatment plant. Zimmerman also reported that seven antibiotics are consistently detected in high concentrations in the water.

The minutes also state Kline had found "actual pills floating on the surface of the stream," though no source was mentioned.

Tuesday Weibel asked why Kneller is so concerned about Lititz water even though he doesn't live in Lititz.

"I have to look at myself in the mirror every morning, so I want to make sure things are right," Kneller said.

E-mail: myoder@lnpnews.com