RAINCOAT AND UMBRELLA IF YOU'RE PLANNING TO GO OUTSIDE THIS WEEKEND. MUCH NEEDED MOISTURE COMING OUR WAY. WE ARE CALLING A FIRST ALERT WEATHER DAY TOMORROW WITH SNOW STILL IN THE MOUNTAINS. HEAVY RAIN ON THE FRONT RANGE. WE'VE GOT YOUR FORECAST COMING UP. >>> HOMEOWNERS AND ONE COLORADO COMMUNITY SAY THEY ARE PAYING UPWARDS OF $200 A MONTH FOR WATER THEY CAN'T EVEN DRINK. >> CERTIFIED LAB TEST SO IT'S NOT ONLY CONTAMINATED, IT'S RADIOACTIVE. RESIDENCE OF THE PRAIRIE VIEW RANCH WATER DISTRICT IN MORGAN COUNTY SAY WITHOUT WATER, THEIR HOMES ARE WORTHLESS. AN INVESTIGATION BY OUR SHAUN BOYD FINDS IT COULD HAVE ALL BEEN PREVENTED. SEAN, WHAT A NIGHTMARE. >> DISASTER 20 YEARS IN THE MAKING. I'VE NEVER SEEN SO MANY GOVERNMENT AGENCIES BOTCH THINGS SO BADLY, PUTTING THE HEALTH OF NEARLY 140 PEOPLE AT RISK. >> I MOVED HERE JUNE 5, 2020. >> Reporter: JESSE McCUBBIN REMEMBERS THE DAY HE ARRIVED AT PRAIRIE VIEW RANCH IN MORGAN COUNTY. A STORM WAS BREWING THAT DAY AND AS THE WIND PICKED UP, POWER WENT OUT AND THE PUMPS WENT DOWN IN PRAIRIE VIEW RANCH WATER DISTRICT. >> THAT WAS AN IMMEDIATE WAKE-UP CALL. IT WAS LESS THAN EIGHT HOURS IN MY HOUSE. >> Reporter: THE PRESIDENT OF THE WATER DISTRICT, HE SAYS, ASSURED HIM THERE WAS BACKUP POWER IN THE EVENT OF AN FIRE, BUT NOT ONLY WERE THERE NO GENERATORS, THERE WASN'T EVEN ENOUGH WATER PRESSURE TO PUT OUT A FIRE IF IT DID HAPPEN. WORSE STILL, THE WATER ITSELF, HE WOULD SOON LEARN, WAS TOXIC. >> THAT IS OUR DRINKING WATER THAT WE SERVE TO THE COMMUNITY. >> Reporter: McCUBBIN BEGAN DIGGING UP EVERYTHING HE COULD ON THE WATER DISTRICT. THE MORE HE LEARNED, THE MORE ALARMED HE BECAME. >> EVERYWHERE I LOOKED I JUST KEPT FINDING MORE QUESTIONABLE, OBVIOUSLY FAKE OR IMPROPER DOCUMENTS EVERYWHERE. >> Reporter: WHILE SAFEGUARDS, HE SAYS, WERE NOWHERE TO BE FOUND, FOUR YEARS AFTER MOVING IN, HE NOW HAS WATER HE CAN DRINK, A HOME HE CAN'T SELL, AND A WATER SYSTEM FILLED WITH BLACK SLUDGE HE CAN'T GET RID OF, SLUDGE THAT CERTIFIED LAB RESULTS SHOW IS FILLED WITH RADIOACTIVE LEAD AND URANIUM. >> HAS TO GO TO THE DEER TRAIL CLEAN HARBORS FACILITY AND IT'S AN ACTUAL ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINANT. >> I DON'T USE THE WATER TO BRUSH MY TEETH. >> Reporter: SHEILA BROWN SAYS IT SHOULD NEVER COME TO THIS. SHE CONTACTED THE WATER QUALITY DIVISION IN 2007 AND IT REFUSED TO INTERVENE, SAYING THE STATE DOESN'T REGULATE WATER SYSTEMS THAT SERVE FEWER THAN 25 PEOPLE, EVEN THOUGH THIS SYSTEM WAS IN VIOLATION OF STATE REGULATIONS THAT REQUIRE DESIGN PLANS BE APPROVED BEFORE CONSTRUCTION. IT WAS BUILT WITH NO APPROVAL, NO REGULATORY OVERSIGHT, AND NO CENTRALIZED TREATMENT. >> YOU'RE TOLD BASICALLY GOOD LUCK, RIGHT? >> YEAH, YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN. >> Reporter: IT WOULD TAKE ANOTHER 10 YEARS BEFORE THE STATE WOULD STEP IN. BY THEN, THE DAMAGE WAS DONE. >> EVERY SQUARE INCH OF THIS PLACE DOESN'T MEET THE REGULATIONS THAT ENGINEERS REQUIRE FOR PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM INFRASTRUCTURE. >> Reporter: IT WASN'T JUST THE INFRASTRUCTURE, THE WATER QUALITY DIVISION DISCOVERED THE WATER ITSELF HAD UNSAFE LEVELS OF MANGANESE AND ISSUED NOTICES REQUIRING DEVELOPERS WARN RESIDENTS, NOTICES THEY IGNORED. DEVELOPERS WERE ALSO WARNED NOT TO MAKE ANY UNAPPROVED IMPROVEMENTS OR MODIFICATIONS TO THE SYSTEM, APPARENTLY SELLING WATER TAPS ISN'T AN IMPROVEMENT OR MODIFICATION. THEY SOLD DOZENS MORE TO UNSUSPECTING RESIDENTS AND THE STATE AND COUNTY DIDN'T STOP IN. >> COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT AND COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AND ZONING HAD THE RESPONSIBILITY TO STOP MORE PEOPLE FROM GETTING DRAGGED INTO THIS MESS AND THEY JUST EARNED A COMPLETE BLIND EYE TO IT. >> Reporter: McCUBBIN SAYS MORGAN COUNTY SHOULD'VE INTERVENED BEFORE THE SYSTEM WAS EVEN BUILT. SPECIAL DISTRICTS ARE TAX-EXEMPT GOVERNMENT ENTITIES BUT THE WATER DISTRICT WAS SET UP AS A PRIVATE FOR-PROFIT COMPANY WITH NO TEXAN AUTHORITY AND A BOARD MADE UP OF DEVELOPERS AND THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS, SOME OF WHOM McCUBBIN SAYS DON'T EVEN LIVE IN COLORADO, LET ALONE THE DISTRICT. AND STILL, MORGAN COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AND A DISTRICT COURT JUDGE SIGNED OFF ON IT. >> THERE ARE SO MANY PIECES OF PAPER THAT SHOW WRONGDOING THAT WERE THEN ACCEPTED BY THIS AGENCY OR THAT CLERK OR WHATEVER, THAT WHY DIDN'T SOMEBODY NOTICE EARLIER? >> Reporter: IT GETS WORSE. McCUBBIN SAYS WHEN HE AND NEIGHBOR SAM BELMONTE TOOK OVER THE BOARD IN 2021, THEY DISCOVERED $1 MILLION MISSING. HE SAYS THE STATE AUDITOR'S OFFICE, WHICH EXEMPTED THE DISTRICT FROM FINANCIAL AUDITS FOR YEARS, IS NOW PENALIZING RESIDENCE FOR THE ERRORS AND OMISSIONS OF THE PREVIOUS BOARD. MEANWHILE, HE SAYS THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE DON'T INVESTIGATE. THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE WON'T EVEN RESPOND OTHER THAN AN AUTOMATED REPLY AND THE STATE HAS GET TO TAKE ENFORCEMENT ACTION DESPITE NEARLY 200 VIOLATIONS. >> EVERYBODY WANTS TO KICK THE CAN. >> Reporter: THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT IS NOW ADVISING RESIDENTS TO DRINK BOTTLED WATER, EVEN AS SOME PAY MORE THAN $200 A MONTH IN WATER BILLS. >> WOULD YOU PAY $200 A MONTH FOR WATER YOU CAN'T USE? THERE IS NO ACCOUNTABILITY. NONE. ZERO. >> HOW FRUSTRATED ARE YOU? >> I REALLY DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO. >> THE DEVELOPERS, DORIA GIBBS AND JOHN PIERSON, DECLINED AN INTERVIEW BUT CLAIMED THEY HIRED A LICENSED ENGINEER TO DESIGN THE SYSTEM AND THOUGHT THE STATE HAD APPROVED IT. RESIDENCE NOW SAY IT'S BEYOND REPAIR AND THEY DON'T HAVE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO REPLACE IT. THEIR ONLY OTHER OPTION, TO HAVE ANOTHER WATER DISTRICT TAKE OVER, BUT THEY SAY DEVELOPERS HAVE REFUSED TO GIVE UP THE WATER RIGHT. THE STATE NOW SAYS IT WILL TAKE ENFORCEMENT ACTION BY THE END OF THE MONTH IF ALL VIOLATIONS AREN'T RESOLVED. RESIDENTS SAY THEY'RE PAYING THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS FOR FILTERS, FOR TEST, THERE'S FINES ON TOP OF THAT. THE DISTRICT IS ON THE VERGE OF COLLAPSE. >> JUST AN INCREDIBLE STORY. >> IT'S APPALLING, RIGHT? >> THANK YOU FOR UNCOVERING IT AND
