Post date: Sep 01, 2014 4:43:34 AM
March 4, 2002
Permit Would Add Dioxane to Drinking Water Sources
The 1300 gal/min discharge rate in the Pall's proposed permit will deliver untreated 1,4-dioxane (and undetermined intermediate breakdown compounds) to area water supplies.
The dioxane that doesn't seep into groundwater from the tributary or Honey Creek will empty into the Huron River upstream from where Ann Arbor gets 80% of its water.
Multiple studies have shown that Honey Creek Tributary & Honey Creek lose to groundwater.
Honey Creek Tributary & Honey Creek are located directly over two major groundwater recharge areas where the flow of groundwater is substantially downward.
Adding unnaturally large volumes of water to the tributary and Honey Creek will create a hydraulic "head" that will cause even more surface water to become groundwater.
Since the "head" will exist all the way downstream, the lost groundwater will not reenter downstream.
Rising SWL’s in shallow wells since 1994 show that discharge is losing to groundwater and not reentering tributary.
The discharge to a losing tributary is pushing plumes of dioxane down and out, making the discharge an uncontrolled reinjection.
1300 gal/min will more than double the flow of Honey Creek 7 months of the year. During low flow times, it will more than triple the flow of Honey Creek.
1300 gal/min at 10 ppb will result in 5.7 ppb being discharged to Huron River during normally low flow periods.
Upsets or above average daily discharges for a few days in a row could result in over 1 ppb showing up at the Ann Arbor water intake.
(Stay tuned for more comments)