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Well contamination coming from road salt
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - March 03, 2010)
Well contamination coming from road salt
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
Chardon Township was issued a notice of violation this month by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, which determined that the township's road salt is spoiling nearby residential water wells.
"The results of our investigation indicate that three homes on Woodie Glen (Drive) have chloride concentrations in their wells in excess of the second drinking water standard of 250 milligrams per liter," the notice said.
"The chloride to bromide ratio of these wells, plus six others (on Mentor Road, Breckenridge Drive and Woodie Glen) are in excess of 1,000, which indicate that the wells are influenced by road de-icers. Results of our investigation point to the Chardon Township road maintenance facility as the source of the road de-icers affecting these wells."
The notice cites a section of the Ohio Revised Code which says: "No person shall cause pollution or place to cause to be placed any sewage, sludge, sludge materials, industrial waste or other wastes in a location where they cause pollution of any of the waters of the state."
Township officials plan to meet with OEPA officials within the coming weeks to discuss the report and possible remedies.
Trustee Charles Strazinsky Jr. said the township is willing to work with the OEPA to correct the situation.
Eric Adams, environmental manager for OEPA's Northeast District Office, said the OEPA was called Sept. 12 to investigate a complaint by James and Lisa Muzic, of Woodie Glen Drive. The couple suspected high concentrations of salt in their water well was due to the storage and handling of road salt at the township maintenance facility at 9949 Mentor Road.
"The complainants have abandoned two wells on this property due to salty water," the report said.
Mr. Adams said during the course of the investigation 14 water wells in the area of the maintenance facility were sampled. The testing showed nine wells in the area of the maintenance facility were impacted, he said.
Mr. Adams said typically the OEPA does not concern itself with water supplies, which are under the jurisdiction of the Ohio Department of Health.
However, he said, because the situation was impacting the "waters of the state" the OEPA had jurisdiction.
"We believe after completing the study that the (township's) salt pile is impacting ground water," he said.
Three of the homes on Woodie Glen Drive showed high salt concentrations that exceed the "secondary drinking water standard of 250 milligrams per liter," he said.
A "secondary" standard, Mr. Adams said, tends to be more an "aesthetic issue" in terms of taste. Primary standards tend to indicate health-related issues, he said, although health departments are those responsible for determining the risk to health.
Robert Weisdack, Geauga County health commissioner, said he would not comment on the situation until he heard from OEPA officials directly. He said he planned to attend the joint meeting of township officials and the OEPA.
The report centered on the ratio of chloride to bromide in the wells, saying ratios that exceed 1,000 "are likely to be dominated by halite inputs from de-icing or water softeners."
The report rules out water softeners as the source, because the magnitude of the salt concentrations are "unlikely to be the result of softener salt discharge based on data from other subdivisions."
Mr. Adams said all of the homes affected by the contamination are downhill from the maintenance facility. "The samples appear along a rather linear trend, which indicates a similar source along a continuum for these samples," the report said.
"While the salt is stored in a covered shed, the cinders and salt have been mixed on a pervious surface for the past 28 years," the report said. "Potential salt pathways include overland flow into drainage ditches and then into bedrock fractures."
The township's well does not appear to be impacted, the report said, but it is located uphill from the stockpiles of salt.
The report also ruled out brine associated with oil and gas wells, saying petroleum hydrocarbons would be present, but are not.
The report also said no underground pressures could be found that would force the brine upward through rock formations.
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