Contaminated Wells Could Spark New Rules

By: Nathan Lamb

Officials from Somers, Connecticut are considering mandatory testing for private wells, after recent samples discovered uranium and arsenic in local drinking water, according to this story from the Journal Inquirer.

The issue came to light when officials tested more than 50 local wells. Town sanitarian Steven Jacobs didn’t give a specific number, but said high levels of contaminants were found in a small percentage of samples.

Arsenic and uranium are thought to have leeched into the water from bedrock, resulting in isolated pockets of contamination.

According the EPA, high levels of uranium can lead to increased cancer risk and/or liver damage. Arsenic—a naturally occurring, odorless and tasteless semi-metal—is linked to increased risk for a variety of cancers.

Two-thirds of the roughly 10,000 residents in Somers are on private wells. Jacobs said the town doesn’t regulate those drinking supplies, but that could change. The town’s Water Pollution and Control Authority recently collaborated with state health and environmental officials to draft an ordinance that would require testing of private wells.

Jacobs said the ordinance is still under development. In the meantime he advised residents with private wells to voluntarily do the testing.

Somers is located roughly 20 miles northeast of Hartford.

Dredging Blamed for Groundwater Woes in Maryland

By: Nathan Lamb

A dumping site formerly used to maintain a key canal between Baltimore and Philadelphia has contaminated drinking water in a Maryland community, according to this report in the Cecil Daily Whig.

A recently published U.S. Geological Survey concluded there’s “overwhelming evidence” the old Pearce Creek dredging disposal site in Earleville contaminated groundwater at the property and neighboring parcels.

The disposal site closed in 1992, but the study found concentrations of beryllium, arsenic, cadmium and thallium that exceed health advisories from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Also mentioned were high levels of sulfate, iron, chloride and low pH in the groundwater. The disposal site operated for 55 years, closing after neighbors on private wells complained about poor water quality.

The two-year study evaluated 35 wells at the disposal site and another 15 in the nearby West View Shores community. The majority of contaminants were found at the disposal site, but two residential wells contained high levels of beryllium, which can cause internal lesions.

The disposal site was operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A Corps spokesperson acknowledged the dredging was a “contributing factor” on the water quality, adding that the outcome was unexpected and previous water studies were inconclusive.

The Corps has been advocating reactivation of the disposal site as a cost-effective tool in maintaining the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, which saves roughly 300 miles of sea jaunts between Baltimore to Philadelphia.

The Corps is proposing new containment measures at the Pearce Creek disposal site and has offered to drill new wells for the impacted neighbors. That proposal has already come under fire from at least some neighbors, who say that doesn’t address existing contaminants.

Earlville is off the northern end of the Chesapeake Bay, roughly 70 miles east of Baltimore.

Study Highlights California Groundwater Contaminants

By: Nathan Lamb

Groundwater from the southern California desert has higher-than-average levels of naturally occurring contaminants, according to this story from the Desert Sun newspaper.

A recently released study from the U.S. Geological survey found contaminants in 42 percent of aquifers from the Coachella Valley, which is roughly 100 miles west of Los Angeles. The study found high levels of arsenic, boron, fluoride, molybdenum and strontium—all of which have been linked to adverse health impacts by the Environmental Protection Agency. The study did not evaluate samples from water utilities, which are subject to health regulations and often treat groundwater to remove contaminants.

A spokesperson from the Coachella Valley Water District stated their treated drinking water is in full compliance with health regulations, saying they average 18,000 quality tests annually. And Miranda Fram of the USGS groundwater monitoring program explained that "water delivered to [residents] meets water-quality standards.”

The U.S. Geological survey was billed as the most extensive evaluation of desert groundwater to-date, with the goal of getting a comprehensive picture on the issue. The study also evaluated acquirers in the Owens, Indian Wells and Antelope Valleys, along with the Mojave area and Colorado River basin.

Across the desert, contaminants were found in 35 percent of groundwater tapped by public drinking supplies, whereas the average ranges from 10-25 percent across most of the state. The report suggested that water typically stays underground longer in the desert, giving it more time to mix with contaminants.

Old Pesticide Manufacturing Site Has Imminent Cleanup

By: Duane Craig


Contaminated land on Whiteford Road in Whiteford, Md., nears a cleanup, according to this article. The soil on the site is laced with arsenic left behind from a chemical and fertilizer manufacturer.

Up until 1976, the manufacturer released waste from its mixing operations into a pond on the property. The waste then flowed through a ditch and into a nearby stream. While the chemical operation stopped using the pond in the 1970s, the adjacent packing company continued to use it for years afterward.

On the soil’s surface, arsenic has been recorded at 459 parts per billion, while deeper down it reaches as high as 1,660 parts per billion. The Environmental Protection Agency lists arsenic’s safe level in ground water as 10 parts per billion. The manufacturing of various pesticides and fertilizers was stopped in the mid-1980s and demolition waste from the building was dumped into the pond. The Maryland Department of Environment actively sampled for contamination in 1984 and in 2001. After in-depth studies of the properties between 2005 and 2008, the agency badgered potentially responsible parties to make plans for the cleanup.

Cleanup plans were completed by 2009. During the past three years, the responsible parties have been gathering permits, approvals, waivers and access agreements so the work could begin.

Coal Ash Spill Ruled Negligent

By: Duane Craig


Hundreds of property owners who have taken the Tennessee Valley Authority to court over the 2008 spill of contaminated sludge near Kingston, Tenn., were pleased with a judge’s opinion that TVA is liable for damages stemming from the spill, according to this report.

Still, many admit they will never recover what they lost and that any settlements will not change the damage that’s been done. The spill released 5 million cubic yards of ash that was being stored in a containment pond. The material contained all the by-products released from the burning of coal, including “arsenic, boron, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury and other metals.” The sludge flowed into a river and contaminated land all along its course, ultimately making the waterway unsafe for many of the uses residents previously enjoyed. After more than $1.2 billion has been spent on the cleanup, there remains more to do. A half million cubic yards of ash have settled onto the river bottom where it will simply remain, potentially be capped, or be removed.

TVA had claimed there was nothing it could have done to prevent the failure since there were things beyond its ability to control that precipitated the catastrophe. The judge, however, called into question the utility’s handling of the ash, writing that it did not follow its own procedures, policies and practices which caused it to miss the warning signs of impending failure. By not recognizing those signs the utility failed to take actions that could have prevented the disaster.
To date, the utility has purchased 180 of the affected properties and settled 200 other claims. Still, there is a case load involving more than 800 plaintiffs in the court system.

The Environmental Protection Agency published a list of the coal ash surface impoundments that have high hazard ratings. The list is published to help local responders and community officials adequately plan for other such disasters. As of April 2012 the agency had identified 676 places where coal ash is being stored and found 45 of those to be highly hazardous.

States with the heaviest concentrations of these ticking time bombs include Arizona, North Carolina and Ohio. Arizona’s problems are located in Cochise and Joseph City while North Carolina’s problems are more widespread at Spencer, Eden, Terrell, Belmont, Walnut Cove, Arden and Mount Holly. Ohio has potential spills in Brilliant, Cheshire and Waterford. Kentucky also has its share of troubled impoundments including Harrodsburg, Ghent, Louisa and Louisville.

Other states with troubled coal ash impoundments include Montana, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana and West Virginia.

California Community Pestered by Pesticide-Tainted Water

By: Duane Craig

Every residential property in Livingston, Calif. that relies on water from city-owned wells can now expect 1,2,3-trichloropropane to be present to some degree in that water, according to an article in the Merced Sun-Star. Livingston’s water supplies have also had problems with elevated levels of arsenic and manganese.

Some local officials appear to be hoping the community accepts the long-term contamination prospects as well as they have. One councilman played down the threat saying it wasn’t serious and that levels of 1,2,3-trichloropropane fluctuate. He said he continues to use the city’s water and also gives it to his children. Another official pointed out the chemical, related to agriculture, had been widely used in the area and had prompted other communities to sue companies that produced and used it.

Livingston itself sued and received a $9 million settlement from companies that participated in the contamination, and local officials say the money is being used to clean up the problem. One approach under development is a specially-designed filter that will remove the chemical. The first of its kind is expected to be completed in fall of 2012.

Livingston is one of many communities across California dealing with the chemical. Its shortened name is 1,2,3-TCP and it was originally found at a Superfund site in the southern part of the state, according to information at the California Department of Health. At about the same time it was found in several wells across the state and in 2009 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reported its link to cancer in studies involving laboratory animals. The chemical was used to remove paint and varnish, to clean and degrease materials, as a cleaner during maintenance activities and as an intermediate chemical. It is a byproduct in the manufacture of pesticides based on dichloropropenes, and is used to make soil fumigants.

Land throughout the area near Livingston is heavily used for agricultural purposes leading many to think that its problem is related to pesticide use. Livingston is in Merced County and that county has 25 instances of 1,2,3-TCP being detected in water sources, but the number of detections is on the low side compared to other places in California. For example, Kern County has 108 detections, followed by Los Angeles with 46. Altogether California has 336 sources of water where 1,2,3-TCP has been detected. Still, that might be an optimistic measurement of the potential problem since it doesn’t include 36 inactive, abandoned or destroyed water sources, and doesn’t include agricultural water sources and monitoring wells.

ASARCO Settlement Speeds Washington Arsenic Cleanup

By: Duane Craig

Washington state is moving ahead with the cleanup of hundreds of parcels of land in Everett, where smelter operations more than 100 years ago contaminated the soil with arsenic, according to an article in seattlepi.

The Asarco smelter operated from 1894 to 1912, right near the intersection of current day E. Marine View Drive and Highway 529. Besides dangerously high levels of arsenic, there was also lead and cadmium contamination, and none of it was discovered until 1990. The smelter also contaminated the Snohomish River, two parks, and Legion and Wiggums Hollow. There were 100 parcels cleaned up between 1999 and 2007, and in 2009 the state received $34 million in a settlement from Grupo Mexico, the current owners of Asarco.

In 2009, the bankruptcy and environmental settlement agreements with Asarco netted the EPA, federal agencies and states a little more than $1.79 billion to address contamination at over 80 sites in 20 states. The settlement was termed the largest bankruptcy settlement ever under the Superfund program, and it included full payment of the EPA’s claims plus interest. Washington state received $188 million of that settlement money to repair environmental damage across the state.

Old Maryland Dump Lives On

By: Duane Craig

Montgomery County, Md., is considering ways to deal with contamination from its oldest dump, according to this article on Gazette.Net. But first, it had to trade other land to the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission for 16.5 acres of Rock Creek Park. That acreage was mistakenly used as part of the dump up until 1982 when it closed.

In 2009, the Maryland Department of the Environment found water quality below state standards in the area of the dump, and after further investigation, it discovered trash had been buried 250 feet beyond the dump's northeast boundary. The dump is known as the Gude Landfill, and it is slated for cleanup action once officials decide what that will involve. Contaminants at the landfill and in the local groundwater include trichloroethene, or TCE, vinyl chloride, lead, mercury and arsenic.

In the nearby neighborhoods of Derwood Station and Hollybrooke, a group of concerned citizens says government officials are downplaying the risks of the contamination but are moving in the right direction to get the contamination cleaned up. Options on the table include removing the trash or capping it and leaving it in place. The county's environmental department will provide a study to the state environment department in November. The state will then decide what cleanup actions to take.

Whoops, TCE and PCE on the Move Again at Bennington Superfund Site

By: Duane Craig

A very deep trench is proposed to subvert the movement of contamination from a former landfill in Bennington, Vermont, according to this article in the VTDigger.org. The landfill is also a formerly active Superfund site with remediation completed in 1999, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Groundwater contamination found in Barney Brook

Trichloroethylene, or TCE, and tetrachloroethylene, or PCE, have escaped from the landfill which was previously capped and adorned with a soil vapor extraction system. Apparently the groundwater flow changed and some contamination has been found in a tributary to Barney Brook. For six years in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the landfill was a dumping place for industrial wastes from local companies. Those wastes included polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, organic solvents and lead. These wastes were dumped into a lagoon that was not lined to prevent absorption into the soil.

In 1976, a system was installed to lower the groundwater beneath the landfill by carrying it away to an unlined, pond area. Ten years later PCBs, lead, arsenic, benzene and ethylbenzene were flowing into the pond, according to this EPA report.

The new trench will be 25 feet deep and 200 feet long. Because it goes down to impervious soil it is expected to catch the contaminants. The bottom of the trench will be filled with sand and iron shavings to break down the contaminants and stop their movement.

Montana Basin Eyes Contamination Sources

By: Duane Craig

The Flathead Basin in Montana is a complex and sensitive watershed that may be seeing threats from septic systems, pharmaceuticals, personal care products and volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds.

Phase 1 assessment shows water contamination

Seventeen wells in the Evergreen area tested positive for VOCs and also had traces of chloroform, arsenic and uranium, according to a report in Hungry Horse News.com. As Phase I of an assessment of threats to the basin from increased human populations, the initial study by the University of Montana's Flathead Biological Station also found acetaminophen, sunscreen, bug spray and caffeine in the tested wells.

The wells the samples came from are relatively shallow and therefore are more prone to contamination from surface sources, noted the Flathead City-County Health Department and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality in reinforcing the idea that the county's water is safe for drinking.

There will be a Phase II study done to look at similar pollution characteristics with greater scrutiny. Lower levels of contaminants will be detectable because of the lab used for the specimen analysis. The underground water's connection to the river is particularly mysterious so the studies are expected to help reveal some of those nuances.

TVA Fossil Plants Report Groundwater Contamination

By: Duane Craig

Tennessee Valley fossil-fuel plants contaminating groundwater

The Tennessee Valley Authority, operator of 21 fossil fueled power plants, three nuclear power plants, 29 hydroelectric dams, 14 solar power generation sites, 18 wind turbines and one methane-assisted fossil fuel power plant, has been told by its own inspector general that eight of nine fossil-fueled plants with groundwater monitoring had contaminants in the groundwater that exceeded federal limits.
The OIG also said the TVA, a wholly-owned but self-funded agency of the U.S. government, was in some cases not performing the monitoring required by its permits.
Two plants named in the OIG's report were placed on the highest severity assessment for exceeding a health based groundwater protection standard. The Cumberland plant, northwest of Nashville, was one of those, and Gallatin was the other. Both plants are on the Cumberland River.
Two other plants, Bull Run and John Sevier were placed on Phase II assessment for a significant increase in contaminants above the background levels. Bull Run is near Oak Ridge, Tennessee and the John Sevier plant is near Rogersville, Tennessee. According to its own account, the John Seveir plant released more than 5,000 pounds of toxins into water there in 2009, including nickel compounds, lead compounds, copper compounds, chromium compounds, barium compounds, arsenic compounds and ammonia. The plant also released 31 million tons of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide into the air in 2010.
You can review all the reports of the TVA's OIG here.

CT Well Contamination Woes

October 10, 2010 - A resurgence of a long-standing neighborhood contamination problem has forced several Harwinton Avenue residents to abandon their wells for drinking water, and neighbors are calling for a water line as a long-term solution.

Wells at nine homes tested positive for contaminants including lead, arsenic, nickel and cadmium after the Department of Environmental Protection sampled them earlier this year. Dismayed at the prospect of a future of state-supplied bottled water and water filters, residents attended a meeting with the mayor and representatives of the DEP and the Torrington Area Health District late last month.

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CA's Hilmar Cheese Co. Polluted Wells, Reports Show

September 26, 2010 - Hilmar Cheese Co., one of the world's largest cheese producers, is responsible for spoiling neighbors' drinking water wells, new documents show.

For two decades, the cheese factory midway between Sacramento and Fresno has battled state pollution regulators, and this year it won permission to increase the amount of salty, mineral-rich wastewater dumped on surrounding fields.

Now, much of the well water isn't fit to drink. State officials say the company is the likely culprit in ruining at least 18 wells in and around Hilmar. High in nitrates, arsenic, barium and salts, the well water tastes bad and violates federal health standards.

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Westlawn, MA Residents Learn of Contamination

September 24, 2010 - Contaminants at the Parker Street waste site extend onto the Westlawn housing development but pose no imminent hazard to people who live there, environmental and health officials told residents at a meeting at Keith Middle School Thursday night.

But as Jacqueline Torres sat, confused, after the brief presentation, she illustrated a problem that's much easier to spot: officials who say people are in no immediate danger and residents who don't feel safe.

"Like any other parent, I'm worried — worried and concerned," said the mother of three, who said she has a 21-year-old daughter at Westlawn in remission from cancer of the lymph nodes. "She went through so much with the cancer, I don't want her to get sick because of any other reason."

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Clear AZ Water Could Still Be Contaminated

September 15, 2010 - Even if tap water is clear, there is a significant chance that it could harbor dangerous — sometimes even deadly — contaminants.

Members of the Gila Watershed Partnership learned about contaminated wells and their threats to the health of people who depend on them during a Sept. 8 meeting. Kristine Uhl-man, program coordinator of the University of Arizona’s Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials, known as NEMO, talked about several contaminants and the importance of testing private wells yearly.

Uhlman said 10 percent to 42 percent of water taps are contaminated with viruses, and 95 percent of small groundwater wells violate one or more of the nation’s drinking water standards.

There are 7,014 drinking water wells in Arizona. These are at risk of contamination from nitrates, fluoride, uranium, arsenic and other substances.

Nitrates come from several sources, including fecal matter, fertilizer and natural occurrence in the soil. The chances for well contamination in Arizona are elevated because not enough rain falls to dilute and disperse the contaminants.

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Toxic OH Ash Ponds

August 31, 2010 - The coal ash storage pond at the Muskingum River power plant north of Waterford is leaking toxic substances that could threaten drinking water wells in that area, according to a recent report from two environmental groups - the Sierra Club and the Environmental Integrity Project.

The local power facility, located on Sparling Road, is among three American Electric Power plants in Ohio that the "In Harm's Way" report says is allowing toxic materials like arsenic and mercury into groundwater above maximum contaminant levels set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The other two plants are AEP's Cardinal plant in Brilliant, and the Gavin power plant in Cheshire.

But AEP officials disagree with allegations in the report, and say the Muskingum plant's coal ash impoundment is in compliance with EPA standards. Ohio EPA spokeswoman Linda Oros said according to the supervisor of the agency's division of drinking water, there is no indication of toxic levels of substances above drinking water standards at any of the three facilities.

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EPA Schedules Public Hearing on Edgewater NJ Superfund Site

August 24, 2010 - Federal environmental officials have agreed to take more public comments on a plan to contain and cap contamination at an Edgewater Superfund site, but leave the clean-up to some future redeveloper.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's approach to the old Quanta Resources Industrial site drew criticism from environmentalists as soon as it was released.

In response, the EPA has scheduled another public hearing at 7 p.m. on Sept. 13 at the American Legion Post, 1165 River Road.

New Jersey closed the Quanta site in 1981, citing hazards from more than a century of industrial pollution. Located along the Hudson River at the intersection of River and Gorge roads, the 24-acre property was a coal tar facility, then a waste oil terminal with a nearby chemical plant.

Even before heavy industrial operations began in the wake of the Civil War, industrial fill containing what are now known pollutants was used to turn marshes along the Hudson into suitable sites for piers, rail lines and factories.

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The Earth Will Move: Poisoned CT Neighborhood Braces For Epic Cleanup

August 22, 2010 - Think of it as the big scrape.

An entire neighborhood, poisoned for decades by industrial waste buried beneath homes, yards, schools and playgrounds, is poised for the largest residential cleanup in state history.

Starting Monday, the top four feet of earth in 18 square blocks will be scooped up and hauled away. Clean soil will replace it and trees, lawns, bushes and shrubs will be replanted. The whole process will take up to five years and 230 houses will be affected.

For the Newhall neighborhood, it’s a $60 million do-over.

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Superfund Cleanup in Idaho Draws Local Opposition

August 13, 2010 - People who live around a toxic former silver mining complex in Idaho have a message for federal environmental officials who want to expand a lengthy cleanup effort: Go home, your help is no longer wanted.

Despite the government's best intentions, some locals think a prolonged federal presence will scare away businesses by sending a message that the Silver Valley is a dangerous place to live. Residents and politicians in this conservative region also believe it's a waste of taxpayer dollars and that the real intention of the government is to shut down the remaining mines.

"They've got their environmental science degree from some place like Berkeley and they drive their Prius to the back hills of Idaho and here are a bunch of miners and they want to do what they think is best for us," said attorney James McMillan.

The Environmental Protection Agency has spent nearly 20 years cleaning up the Superfund site in Kellogg that was once one of the most-polluted places in the country, with arsenic and lead stripping the hillsides of vegetation and poisoning the blood of children.

The cleanup efforts have greened the mountains and improved human health, although pollution still exists. Some streams and rivers are so polluted that stretches have no aquatic life, and migrating swans that land on them die.

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Contamination Leaves RI Residents Feeling Blue

August 13, 2010 - Residents of the Bay Street neighborhood in Tiverton have been living a nightmare for nearly a decade, since sewer work uncovered soil so contaminated, much of it was blue in color. Since that time, the long-suffering residents have encountered delay after delay and roadblock after roadblock in their quest to get the neighborhood cleaned up and return to a normal life.

They thought they had finally turned the corner this year when the cleanup began. But they have been dealt another frustrating setback. Now the town and the state must step in and take control. It is way past time for those in power to work for their constituents.

The saga began in 2002 when the contaminated soil was first discovered. The former Fall River Gas Co. is accused of using the neighborhood as a dumping ground, callously and illegally discarding such dangerous substances as petroleum, arsenic, cyanide and lead. Since the discovery, the residents have been trapped on poisoned land they had no chance of selling.

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