BY ADAM ATKINSON
North Country This Week

POTSDAM — The town board has approved a bid for well testing services for the Route 56 Water District.

The bid, $56,620 from the firm Layne Christensen, was the sole bid received by the town.

The company will provide testing for wells in the Unionville area in the newly formed district north of the village for a Withdrawal Permit Modification Application, part of the district formation process.

“I’m not really surprised we only got one response from Layne Christensen. They have a very strong reputation in national work. And, they worked on your 2000 well system so they are already familiar with your wells and how they were initially put in,” said project planner Kevin Feuka of the local engineering firm C2AE.

Feuka said the testing will mostly be done over a weekend.

Both the state Department of Environmental Conservation and Department of Health have approved the testing work, Feuka said. He indicated that Potsdam Speciality Paper and other water users in the area should not be affected too much by the testing process when it occurs.

“We have backup plans in place if there is a potential disruption in flow, so we got it all planned out,” Feuka said.

The well testing is expected to take place in August, Feuka said.