07/16/1980 Special Mtg Board of Public Works Minutes

Home Browse Search

REGULAR MEETING JULY 16. 1980 In an unrelated matter, Mr. McMahon also announced that, as a result of the storm this morning, a booster station on Fellows Street was without power, causing many residents. in the .. area to be without water. He stated that the Water Works crews and crews from I & M were aware of the problem and were taking the appropriate steps to alleviate it. Mr. Leszczynski then. reported to the Board on the problem of the contaminen:ts in the water at the Olive Street Pumping Station as a follow -up to the report he had made to the Board on June 16, 1980. He explained that on July 15th, he had received the quantitative analysis of samples collected at the Pumping Station which indicates the presence of two chemicals in the water: Tetrachloreothene and Trichloroethene. He stated that, at this time, two wells have been contaminated, two wells have been marginally contaminated, which -.Weans the concentrations are within proposed safe drinking standards, and two wells have shown no contamination at all.- The results showed that a contaminant has entered the aquifer and the possibility existed that the movement of the contaminants may affect the entire well field. Mr. Leszczynski announced that, in the interest of public safety, the Olive Street Pumping Station would remain out of service until the contaminate has been removed from the water system. He further explained that, in the last several weeks, the department has attempted to resolve the problem. In addition to the extensive -lab analysis being performed, the department has had infrared photographs taken of the site in an effort to try and locate a surface source of contamination. The services of Ten Ech have also been engaged concerning recommendations with regard to ground water movement, possible sources of contamination and for the review of all possible methods of treatment. He stated that further testing was being recommended by.the consultant in order to help determine the extent and source of the contamination. Mr. Leszczynski indicated that a preliminary review of the con- tamination showed that these two chemicals have shown up in other water systems in a number of communities across the United States and several treatment techniques are available, one of which may possibly be used at Olive Street in the water. Mr. McMahon referred to the analysis furnished by Ten Ech Environmental Consultants concerning the testing of the wells. He agreed that the Pumping Station should be closed even though four of the six wells were tested and found to be within the standards set forth for safe drinking water. He stated that the city did not have available a great deal of background.information on water contaminants. Other communities are experiencing the same problems now, and the Environmental Protection•Agency standards were very preliminary and have not been adopted; however, the city would be using these standards as guidelines. He stated that the city had two alterna- tives: the well field could be closed on a permanent basis and a new well field constructed, or the field could be kept open and the water treated. He stated that other communities have utilized its contaminated water by treating it. Because of the information received from Ten Ech, Mr. McMahon had expressed concern previous to this time that there was a general problem in the community resulting from septic tank users. He pointed out that the information received shows that this is not the case and that the problem relates to a specific point source of contamination. He was hopeful that the city would be able to identify the source and rectify the situation. Mr. McMahon suspected that the problem lies to the north and east of the Pumping Station near the railroad area or just beyond it. He stated that the only study done in St. Joseph County on ground water movements and contaminants was done in 1945. He indicated that Ten Ech is one of the most highly qualified consultant involved in this area.