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EPA tests to monitor private well water for contaminants By JACQUELINE BERLIN Some Brunswick residents may be able to quench their thirsts more confidently, knowing that their drinking water is to be tested for toxins. Three wells the federal Environmental Protection Agency installed this summer on the western end of the Brunswick Wood Preserving site will monitor if contaminants are leaching toward private wells of homes around Floraville and Old Jesup Road. Results may be known within the next month. Brian Farrier, EPA remedial project manager, said it is unlikely that any toxins will ever reach the drinking water. Previously the EPA relied on testing private wells of residents who live near the site. About 20 are tested annually. However, some residents and the Glynn Environmental Coalition demanded more reassurance. "It's not appropriate to use residential wells for monitoring because we'll only know a year after [people] have been drinking contaminated water," said Daniel Parshley of the Glynn Environmental Coalition. In a public health assessment in August 1998, the Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry noted that private wells near the site pose an indeterminate health risk. There is no apparent public health hazard being introduced into the county's public water system. Parshely said the new monitoring wells have been needed a long time because toxins from the site could leach into people's well water and they could drink it for a year before finding out. If any toxins appear in tests from the new wells, the EPA will know before it reaches any drinking water. Scientists have said the water in the area is safe. "There is no reason to buy bottled water at this time. No evidence supports this," said Gary Hummel, environmental health specialist with the Georgia Department of Human Resources chemical hazards program. "[The EPA is] jumping through hoops to get the wells installed to let people know ahead of time if a problem is coming." Contaminants that could potentially get in the water include arsenic, creosote, pentachlorophenol, copper, chromium and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons. Lumber was treated at what is now an environmental Superfund site from the time American Creosote Co. founded it in 1958 until it was closed in 1991 as the Brunswick Wood Preserving Co. Past owners include the Georgia Creosoting Co. and the Escambia Treating Co. The well work at the Wood Preserving site and geological borings around a proposed area for a slurry wall to contain toxins was begun in June and is scheduled to be complete by the end of this week or early next week, said Timothy Turner of CDM Federal Programs Corp., the Chantilly, Va.-based contractor for the EPA. The EPA is designing a corrective action plan for the Brunswick Wood Preserving site. Next will be groundwater sampling and probing the bottoms of impoundment ponds to collect underwater samples. |
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