Post date: Sep 01, 2014 4:37:50 AM
January 14, 2002
Contamination Increases in Newly Discovered Plume
The latest reading from monitoring well MW-72, near where I-94 crosses Jackson Road, was 1670 ppb on 12/06/01, up from the initial readings of 941 ppb and 633 ppb taken in late November, 2001.
On 11/29/01, the DEQ reported that the initial readings "taken from depths of 190 and 210 feet indicate that the contamination of the deeper Unit E aquifer has moved farther east than anticipated." SRSW has yet to receive information on what depth the 1670 ppb was found.
Much more needs to be known about this new plume. How did it get that far offsite without being detected for over 15 years? Where is the path of the plume? How much higher is the concentration of dioxane nearer the core and how long will it take to find it? What other wells may be at risk besides the handful we already know about? What other, as yet undiscovered contamination may be threatening wells in other directions at the same or different aquifer layers?
Former Injection Well Shows Dioxane
More bad news was reported in the December sampling results. Pall-Gelman's Evergreen Injection Well #2 (IW-2) showed 1 ppb of dioxane. This well was used up until November 1999 to reinject treated purge water into the E aquifer. Previously, the E aquifer there was always less than 1 ppb.
Either the plume has spread that far at that depth, or prior violations in the reinjections there were enough to cause lasting contamination. (Pall-Gelman had been fined for reinjecting treated water at 1 ppb or more at IW-2 in the past, but the fines are still "under advisement" in Circuit Court.)