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https://www.dgs.udel.edu/publications/ri65-wellhead-protection-area-delineations-lewes-rehoboth-beach-area-delaware
https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-08/documents/mgwc-gwd1.pdf
This Fueling Station site slopes down to our Wellhead Protection Area and Sarah Run.
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> https://sussexcountyde.gov/sites/default/files/PDFs/2018CompPlan-Final.pdf < (page 7-6)
· "DNREC oversees the state’s Source Water Assessment and Protection Program (SWAPP) . . . "
· "Under DNREC regulations, assessments have been completed of the vulnerability from contamination of each water system. DNREC provides assessment reports to water systems and the Delaware Health and Social Services Department’s Office of Drinking Water. "
· "One of the best ways to avoid contamination of important water supply wells is to avoid intensive industrial and commercial development that uses hazardous substances in adjacent areas. Once toxic substances enter an aquifer, they can be extremely difficult to contain the contamination and to remove the substances from the water. "
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> http://delawaresourcewater.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/why_SWAP_map_web_0.pdf <
The map on this site shows the current and historic contamination sites in Delaware and in the box it reads:
· - 100% of Kent and Sussex County residents rely on ground water as their source of drinking water.
· - Contaminated ground water is difficult and very expensive to clean up. Local communities are often left to bear the cost of well replacement or water treatment.
· - Groundwater contamination can devalue real estate, cause the businesses to relocate, and may result in high utility fees.
" by not only removing potential hazards, but also by not placing them there in the first place."
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Thousands of Tidewater Customers Depend on Angola Wellhead Protection Area
This 117-acre Wellhead Protection Area is the major drinking water source for many residents in the area, served by Tidewater.
Tidewater report of 2018, page 12, the Overall Susceptibility Ratings table shows Angola Pump District (where our homes are located) has high potential for contamination to source water from petroleum hydro carbons.
> https://www.middlesexwater.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Tidewater_CCR_2019_E-copy.pdf <
Page 3 explains:
Susceptibility Determination
The key part of a source water assessment is the determination of the likelihood that a particular public water supply system will capture contaminants at concentrations of concern. This analysis, termed susceptibility determination, combines the source water protection area delineation, the vulnerability determination for the wells, the contaminant source inventory, and the water quality information to yield a relative susceptibility for the public water system.
Each individual water source is rated for each of the eight contaminant categories on a scale ranging from no susceptibility, low, medium to high, having been documented as having exceeded drinking water standards. The table for each community system can be found directly under Water Quality results for that system.
According to this report, Angola Pump District serves the following communities, but it will also serve the communities that have been approved but not yet developed:
· Angola by the Bay
· Angola District
· Angola Estates
· Bay Front
· Bay Pines
· Bay Pointe (Herring Pointe)
· Bay Ridge Woods
· Chapel Green
· Cove on Herring Creek
· Lochwood
· Marsh Farm Estates
· Oakwood Village
· Richfield Acres
· Village at Herring Creek
· West Bay Park
· Woods on Herring Creek
(* It is not certain whether all the above communities in Angola Pump District are served from the same well.)
See If You're One Of The 250M Americans Whose Drinking Water Is Laced With Cancer-Linked Pollutants (7/26/2017)
https://patch.com/us/across-america/more-250m-americans-drink-water-cancer-linked-pollutants
What the public wants is not the assurance of water quality testing and notices after contamination is detected; the public wants no potential source of contamination even to be considered near their wells - unless it is absolutely necessary.
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CDC's Drinking Water Week theme for 2019 was "Protect The Source."
> https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/observances/dww.html <
"Government regulations have helped reduce pollution of the bodies of water that supply our drinking water systems over the years. However, treating water to remove or kill contaminants like germs or chemicals is still critical to make sure that water is safe to drink. Contamination of drinking water can occur at multiple points, including:
· In the original water source (for example, a river).
· Through inadequate water treatment.
· In storage tanks.
· In drinking water distribution systems (the pipes that carry water to homes, businesses, schools, and other buildings)."
USA Today of 9/21/2019 writes that EPA's Safe Drinking Water Act is not to be relied on for the safety of drinking water:
> https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2019/09/19/your-tap-water-safe-study-claims-cancer-risk-even-safe-water/2350072001/ <
" In a handout on the EPA website explaining the Safe Drinking Water Act, it explains that water systems in America rely on community members to ensure that local water suppliers keep their water safe." "The public is responsible for helping local water suppliers to set priorities, make decisions on funding and system improvements, and establish programs to protect drinking water sources," the EPA writes.
The applicant's lawyer asked the engineer to affirm that there is adequate water supplies for appropriate fire protection. If there is a concern for fire at this large fueling station, why do we even consider placing it there? Where would all the water mixed with gasoline go? Also, doesn't water splash benzine and spread fire even more?
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There are plenty of articles that show how firefighting foams contaminate wells:
Lord Delaware's Wisdom from His Proclamation in 1610
'Delaware’s Source Water Assessment and Protection Program' presentation on 10/18/2013 (page 4), is quoted Lord Delaware in 'Proclamation for Jamestown, VA, 1610':
http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/CWAC/Documents/DNREC%20Source%20Water%20Protection%20Program%20Presentation.pdf
"There shall be no man or woman dare to wash any unclean linen, wash clothes,...nor rinse or make clean any kettle, pot, or pan or any suchlike vessel within twenty feet of the old well or new pump. Nor shall anyone aforesaid, within less than a quarter mile of the fort, dare to do the necessities of nature, since by these unmanly, slothful, and loathsome immodesties, the whole fort may be choked and poisoned.“
This drinking water source may not be contaminated in 2-3 years, but once the fueling station is there, there is no telling that it might not be contaminated in the future. Our children and grandchildren may be affected without doing anything wrong.
If this site gets contaminated or the station becomes non-use for bankruptcy or being outdated due to electric cars that can be charged at home, who will be responsible to clean up the site?
Should this fueling station be required to put tens of millions of dollars in bonds?
Those who do not live in the area affected and do not have to drink or use the water there everyday had better not say that the residents are overly concerned. If such high risk is ignored in this area, the same will happen anywhere in Sussex.
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https://www.newsweek.com/millions-americans-are-drinking-water-that-contaminated-yet-legal-environmental-working-group-1467075
"legal doesn't necessarily mean safe."
More than 160 substances found in U.S. tap water are unregulated and the Maximum Contaminant Levels for some other contaminants haven't been updated in almost five decades, the EWG said. This means that though drinking water may meet national standards, it doesn't render it safe, the group said.
"The majority of water systems in the U.S. get a passing grade from the U.S. government," EWG toxicologist Alexis Temkin told Newsweek. But "legal doesn't necessarily mean safe."
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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2019/09/19/your-tap-water-safe-study-claims-cancer-risk-even-safe-water/2350072001/
"The study, funded by the Park Foundation, compiled a list of 22 contaminants with carcinogenic risks present in 48,363 community water systems in the United States, which EWG estimates serve about 86% of the U.S. population "