Post date: Sep 01, 2014 3:40:16 AM
July 9, 1999
Latest on the Pall-Gelman Contamination
Pall-Gelman just completed their 7000 foot pipeline and horizontal purge wells... part of what an industry expert called "a back-of-a-napkin plan." But the $2 million dollar gamble was allowed to happen via legal maneuvering and rammed through without the required local governmental reviews and approvals. Even the DEQ made it clear that the pipeline "plan" was entirely at Pall-Gelman's own risk, without any guarantees that it would be approved for use.
Pall-Gelman has yet to show if the pipelines and horizontal purge wells will do enough to help the company capture the 1,4-dioxane plumes that continue to spread in four directions, mostly outside the capture zones of any purge wells. The concerns that the pipes might even allow more rapid spread of the 1,4-dioxane plumes were never addressed.
Without any prior analyses to know if the purge wells are in the right place, this latest attempt is yet another Pall-Gelman "shot-in-the-dark" that may not work any better than their previous "plans."
Western Plume To Be Allowed To Spread
Pall-Gelman's long overdue Revised Western Work Plan reveals that the company will do no cleanup of the western plume, but instead allow it to spread to contaminate new areas. They show maps of the projected spread over the next several years. A major problem with Pall-Gelman's projections is that recent sampling shows that the plume has already spread faster than what the maps predicted for 5-7 years in the future! No one knows where it will really be in 5-7 years.
Inadequate data is being collected to show if the faster spread is being caused by Pall-Gelman's discharge to the creek right over a major groundwater recharge area.