WEST SUNBURY — The owners of Dellich Mobile Home Park have a tough decision ahead, one they never thought they'd have to make.

Bill and Amy Dellich said they need to ask six mobile home owners to leave their park, so they can comply with a request from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's Safe Drinking Water Act.

Bill Dellich said they received a letter from the department saying their well did not comply with the act, which does not allow more than 15 homes and 24 people tied into one on-site well.

“Everyone said the water is fine, and they don't want to move,” Bill Dellich said.

Amy Dellich said the weight of the decision has kept them up at night because they have a good community in their park. She said they don't want to see anybody go, but they were given only a few options, and only one is plausible for their situation.

“It's a big decision. Everyone says, 'Don't pick me,'” Amy Dellich said. “Every time you talk to someone, you change your mind.”

Elizabeth Rementer, a spokeswoman for the DEP, said the Delliches have entered into a consent order and agreement with the department to bring the water supply serving the mobile home park into compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Rementer said the homeowners have been cooperating with the department to re-establish compliance.

She said there are multiple options for rectifying the problem, and the DEP was not involved in the deciding of those options.

“Any decision about reducing the number of tenants is up to the owners, not DEP,” Rementer said. (The) DEP's role is to ensure that the owners of the mobile park home comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act.”

Amy Dellich said that although there is the option of adding another well, between the installation and residual costs of maintenance it would not be feasible for their park. She said that even if they were to add more lots to maximize the use of a second well, they would barely break even.

“It's a bad situation is all it is,” Amy Dellich said.

Bill Dellich said he and his wife have prided themselves on keeping rent costs low for a no-nonsense community that has given them few worries over the years. He said in general all the residents are beyond neighborly and care well for their properties. He also said that none of the residents has ever brought up issues about the water with him.

Amy Dellich said she will be sad not only to send six homes out of the park, but also to disrupt the solid community.

“They've been there 20 years, some of them,” she said. “They're happy there.”

Amy Dellich said there are some other parks that they have talked to that have some vacancies. She said no one wants to leave their park.

“They've been the same neighbors and they're comfortable and content,” she said.

Amy Dellich said that in the next couple of months the park will have to issue official eviction notices. She said she wishes she didn't have to.

“I hope they can find some place they like,” she said. “I hope some good comes of it.”