These matzo makers answer to a higher authority.

A Williamsburg bakery defied a city Health Department order to halt production of the unleavened bread for Passover because it was using contaminated well water.

''Only very small amounts are mixed with the flour,'' said a lawyer for Congregation Yetev Lev D'satmer, which makes Passover matzo.

The city bans the use of well water to make food. The Satmar Matzo Bakery is near the Newtown Creek Superfund Site, long a dumping ground for toxic chemicals.

The bakery installed a filtration system, but the water still failed city tests, showing excessive nitrite levels, a spokesman said.

Department spokesman Sam Miller conceded the threat of toxic matzo to consumers is minimal.

''The chance of them getting sick is low,'' he said.

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