Post date: Sep 01, 2014 4:24:40 AM
March 29, 2001
1,4-Dioxane Found in Deepest Aquifer.
PGSI is adding monitoring wells to try to define the extent of the contamination, but is still finding 1,4-dioxane in locations where they previously didn't expect it but were compelled to look because of adjacent contamination.
PGSI's 3/01/01 Farm Area Property Investigation states that the E aquifer is now contaminated as confirmed by three monitoring wells south and west of the Third Sister Lake.
This has grave implications for the whole township. This E aquifer is the deepest aquifer just above bedrock and is thought to contain pristine glacial water, water left over from when the glaciers melted some 10,000 years ago. It is thought to extend over a wider area than the other upper level aquifers.
If this deep aquifer can be contaminated, then it has grave implications for the rest of the township. It also means that that the mass balance calculations PGSI used to predict how to meet the court-ordered 5-year deadline could have significantly underestimated the how much 1,4-dioxane has to be cleaned up.
Step one in solving a problem is to define the problem. According to state law, the company was supposed to fully characterize the extent of the contamination when it was first discovered, some 15 years ago.
At this rate, PGSI might not be finished defining the extent of the contamination within five years, let alone clean it up.
This piece-meal approach to defining the plumes is raising more questions that must be answered. More on this in the next news segment.