The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will spend $320,000 to address contaminated groundwater in the Garden City area.
The cleanup plan calls for the $320,000 to be used to continue existing wellhead treatment, which involves providing filter devices to residents or businesses with contaminated wells, tracking the TCE and plume migration levels, and implementing institutional controls such as deed restrictions and notices, including protective easements as needed.
Most residents in Garden City are not exposed to drinking water above the federal acceptable risk exposure for TCE, EPA spokeswoman Rachel Bassler said.
Garden City, an unincorporated town on the southwest edge of Columbus, consists of low-density residential properties, commercial businesses and the Garden City Mobile Home Park. All of the properties use private wells for drinking water, according to the report.
The Garden City Plume site contains trichloroethylene (TCE), an industrial solvent, in a sand-and-gravel aquifer located in the floodplain of the East Fork White River, about 45 feet below the ground surface, federal officials said.
The plume extends from the former Kiel Bros. Oil Co. property, 850 Jonesville Road, a former gas station, to south of the intersection of State Road 11 and Garden Street in the center of town, with the groundwater flowing primarily to the east, toward the river.
TCE is a manufactured chemical widely used in dry cleaning for fabrics and for metal degreasing. It is also used to make other chemicals and is in some consumer products. It has been shown to have the capacity to cause cancer, the report states.
The Garden City Groundwater Plume site was placed on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Priorities List in December 2013.
For more on this story, see Thursday’s Republic.
