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Oil company providing temporary housing for Butler County family until water contamination resolved - KWCH

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Oil company providing temporary housing for Butler County family until water contamination resolved

BUTLER COUNTY, Kan. (KWCH) - A family that was left without water after finding oil in their lone supply, on Tuesday provided an update in which their efforts to reach out finally yielded responses and more assistance on the way. The family said Vess Oil Corporation is providing them temporary housing until the situation is resolved. This comes after Jenna Krob and Shane Campbell reached out to the state, lawmakers and even the oil company and for weeks, did not hear back.

While providing the assistance, Vess Oil said its operations are not the source or the problem.

Vess Oil Corporation is providing the family with a mobile home unit to use until they’re safely able to use water from their primary supply to their home. The unit includes a 3,000-gallon water tank and a sewage system.

The company said, in part, “This appears to be a pre-existing problem related to historic activities in the immediate area that predates our involvement. There is no indications that VOC’s operatiions are the source of this problem.”

The state finally responded last week after the FactFinder investigation into oil being found in the family’s water supply. The family also heard from U.S. Senator Jerry Moran’s office.

Getting the government to step up was important but, the couple said, help from the community is what meant so much to them. This included an Andover plumbing company that saw their story.

The state responded again Tuesday night regarding sample testing saying, “The preliminary results show both samples are crude oil with no refined product present. They will continue the date analysis to confirm if they are related. We will not have confirmation until they finish their analysis of the data. A report with conclusions will be submitted once they are finished with their review.”

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