A mobile home park in Ashville is facing another round of steep fines for water violations, as its residents have been told to not drink the water.

During the Chautauqua County Board of Health meeting, board members fined the operators of Wellman Mobile Home Park $4,700 for failure to submit bacteria samples for July, August and September. They also failed to submit samples for a disinfection byproduct requirement that was due in August.

The park has been fined at least twice in the past year. Once they were fined $600 and another time they were fined $2,000.

In late November, the County Health Department issued a “Do Not Drink” order for residents in the mobile home park. Every resident was apparently given a copy of the order.

Environmental Health Services Director Jessica Wuerstle said the Do Not Drink order was issued due to “major issues” with their onsite wastewater treatment system, that it could possibly impact the well that is used by the mobile home park.

“We don’t have anything indicating currently that there’s a problem occurring with the quality of the water, but this particular facility isn’t great at submitting samples,” she said. “We don’t have a lot of data to keep up on the quality of the water coming out of that well.”

Wuerstle called the Do Not Drink order “proactive and preventative” in nature. “Until those wastewater treatment system repairs get made, and we recognize that essentially the sewage is no longer in the well area the way it is currently, we’re going to keep them on that Do Not Drink order,” she said.

One resident of the park, who asked not to be identified, contacted The Post-Journal about the issue.

He noted the waterlines break easily and aren’t deep enough. “They’ve had a sewer leak here for the last two or three years. Between broken sewer lines and then water lines draining into the sewer, it’s been one thing after another,” he said.

The resident reached out to the town of Busti this week. He said officials told him they were unaware of the problem but will be looking into it.

The resident is concerned that the septic may be leaking into a nearby creek which connects to Chautauqua Lake.

Wuerstle noted that the state Department of Environmental Conservation is aware of the park’s sewage issues and has done its own inspections.

The resident said there are 12 mobile homes in the park.

Wuerstle said although a Do Not Drink order has been issued, park residents there can still use the water to flush toilets, shower and wash dishes. In regards to washing dishes, residents are told to boil water before washing them, and then after washing them, having the dishes dry completely before using them.

With the winter weather, Wuerstle said she doesn’t know how soon the park owners will be able to address the problems.

For now, Wuerstle believes the park owners are trying to address the situation. “My understanding is they have made a new arrangement to ensure bacteria samples are being collected as needed,” she said.

It was announced at the Board of Health meeting that there were other businesses that were fined as well for various water violations. None of the fines were close to the $4,700 that Wellman Mobile Home Park was fined.

– Cassadaga ShurFine on Route 60, Cassadaga and Stateline Speedway on Kortwright Road,

Jamestown both paid a $200 fine, and Paul B. D. Temple School, on Cemetery Street, Kennedy paid a $100 fine for failure to submit timely monthly operation records for July.

– Camp Mission Meadows on East Lake Road, Dewittville; Dollar General on Route 474, Ashville; Stockton Place on North Main Street, Stockton; and Willowbrook Mobile Home Park on Route 380, Stockton all paid a $100 fine for failure to submit monthly operation records in a timely manner for August.

– Chautauqua Lake KOA Campground on Thum Road, Dewittville; We Wan Chu Cottages, on West Lake Road, Route 394, Chautauqua town; and Sisters Restaurant on Falconer-Kimball Stand Road, Falconer all paid a $100 fine for failure to submit monthly operation records in a timely manner for September.

– Quincy Cellars on West Main Road, Ripley; Sensory Smokehouse on West Main Road, Ripley; and Willow Creek Winery on Chapin Road, Silver Creek all paid a $200 fine for failure to submit results of microbiological minimum monitoring requirements in a timely manner for the third quarter of 2025.

– Camp Onyahsa on East Lake Road, Dewittville paid a $200 fine for failure to submit results of microbiological minimum monitoring requirements in a timely manner for August.

– Breezewood Links on Dean School Road, Falconer and Splash! on Lakeside Drive, Bemus Point both paid $300 in fines for failure to submit monthly operation records in a timely manner for July and August.

– Alexanders on Main Street, Findley Lake paid $400 in fines for failure to “exercise due care and diligence in the operation and maintenance of a water treatment plant and their appurtenances to ensure continued compliance” and failure to “maintain a free chlorine residual at representative points in the water distribution system.”