New tests find no THC in Colo. town’s drinking water

HUGO, Colo. — Investigators in Colorado said Saturday that a small town’s tap water has tested negative for THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

Colorado Bureau of Investigation scientists said they believe initial positive tests this week in Hugo, about 100 miles southeast of Denver, were false.

“There never was THC in our water supply,” Lincoln County sheriff’s Cpt. Michael Yowell. “We did get multiple tests showing the possibility of THC, but independent tests taken by different people at different times and places showed no evidence of THC.”

The town of Hugo’s approximately 720 residents had been warned not to drink or cook using the local water supply after authorities found evidence of THC. Those warnings have now been lifted.

Colorado town awaits tests for THC in drinking water

“We are happy to report that the water advisory is canceled immediately. Please resume any and all water activities,” the sheriff’s office notified residents on its Facebook page.

Yowell said investigators have found evidence that one of the town’s five wells may have been tampered with. A criminal investigation will continue.

He said a shed covering a well head was broken into, but there was no indication who was responsible or when it occurred. Yowell said the shed is only protected by a padlock, like many other wells on Colorado’s eastern plains, but someone gained entry by breaking into a side of the shed.

Bottled water was distributed to residents after officials said Thursday that some field tests showed evidence of the chemical, and more tests were ordered. No illnesses were reported in Hugo.

Commercial marijuana cultivation, product manufacturing, testing facilities and retail marijuana stores are banned in Hugo, although they are legal elsewhere in the state.

Contributing: The Associated Press