What’s in the water — or not in the water — has divided a community outside Aberdeen and left lawmakers in the middle.

Those with contaminated wells in Glenn Heights have no problem paying some $15,000 to hook up to the public water supply. But those with clean water in their wells say they shouldn’t have to pay for what they don’t need.

About half of the 84 homes have wells polluted with trichloroethylene, a volatile organic compound often used as a cleaning solvent that can depress the central-nervous system.

Tuesday night, the Harford County Council deadlocked over whether to override the community’s narrow vote against using public water and go ahead with a $2.2 million water main extension.

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The council postponed the decision for 28 days, as it searches for more ways to help residents pay to connect to the county’s system.

“When choosing a long-term solution, consider that there are multiple contaminants, no responsible party to pay the bill, and public water nearby,” said Councilwoman Roni Chenowith, a Fallston Republican. “The only viable, long-term solution that would provide a safe water supply to the Glenn Heights community is public water.”

But even with grants and loans from the Maryland Department of the Environment and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the owners of each house would have to pay the county for extending the water main, then pay plumbers and well drillers to connect to the pipe and fill in the old wells.

“That’s my kids’ college money,” said Janet Williams, a resident with an unpolluted well. “We just couldn’t do it.”

Councilwoman Mary Ann Lisanti, a Havre de Grace Democrat, listed options to study and requested the vote be postponed until Nov. 13.

Others, including Chenowith and councilmen Richard Slutzky and Jim McMahan, worried the delay might jeopardize the USDA’s offer of assistance.

Lisanti asked the council to consider other methods of financing the project, including sharing utilities with the city of Aberdeen or getting additional money from the county executive, before the council votes. The grants could not be withdrawn while the council was deliberating, she said.

The council voted 5-2 to delay the decision, with councilmen McMahan and Slutzky dissenting and Chenowith voting for the postponement “out of respect” for Lisanti.

“I hope you’re right,” she chided her colleagues after the vote.

What’s in the water?

Trichloroethylene, also known as TCE, depresses the central nervous system and causes symptoms like alcohol intoxication as well as headaches, dizziness and confusion. TCE can cause unconsciousness, respiratory and circulatory depression and death.

Examiner Staff Writer Virgil Dickson contributed to this report.

msantoni@baltimoreexaminer.com