A safe drinking water program approved by the Amador County Board of Supervisors in August is being used to clean the private well of one of the neighbors of the state prison in Ione.

"As a result of the possible contamination of wells in or around the prison grounds, one family has requested the funds available through the Amador Safe Drinking Water program," said Mule Creek State Prison Warden Richard Subia via e-mail. "I have submitted a grant to reimburse the county and it was approved by the chief deputy secretary on Oct. 5."

The prison's persistent wastewater capacity issues, overburdened by an inmate population more than double the prison's intended capacity, have created concerns for some Ione residents who live near the prison and rely on private wells for their drinking water.

The prison was fined $50,000 in March by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board for sewage contamination into nearby Mule Creek, although no spills have been recorded this year.

The board of supervisors voted in August to allocate that money to the Foothill Conservancy for a project to help ranchers keep their cattle out of Dry Creek in the Ione Valley.

A dry cleaning facility on prison grounds that has since been shut down was suspected of contaminating area wells with a chemical known as tetracholoethene, or PERC.

"The issue," said Director of Environmental Health Mike Israel, "is that we have chemicals foreign to groundwater that came from somewhere."

Subia said the prison is determined to be "a good neighbor," and credited county supervisors Louis Boitano and Richard Forster, County Counsel Martha Shaver and Deputy Board Clerk Jennifer Burns for securing the grant.

"This is a collaborative effort," he said. "We are working toward a regional fix within the county, not just the prison."

For the household that requested the grant funds, Subia told the Ledger Dispatch that a connection to Ione city water sources will start construction this week by JTS Homes to supply a fresh water hookup for the homeowners affected.

"The amount of the funding for the home owners to receive city supplied water is $18,830," he said, "and that is what the prison will reimburse to Amador County as a 'neighborly' gesture due to the possible contamination from the prison."

As for the prison's ongoing environmental and overcrowding issues, hope lies in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's prison reform bill signed earlier this spring, though its effects could still be more than a year away.

Subia expects the prison population to be drawn down to a more manageable 3,600.

As for succeeding as a good neighbor, the warden believes in a team effort.

"It takes a state, county and city to make it happen," he said. "It's an overall win for those involved and it is necessary for us (the prison) to be a part of this community."

Raheem Hosseini contributed to this report.