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.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
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.
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management installed granular-activated filters at the wellhead of each home or business where groundwater was at or exceeded the maximum contaminant level for TCE, Bassler said. The filters remove TCE from the groundwater to make sure the entire structure’s water is safe.
EPA’s site investigation determined that only a few structures should receive the granular-activated filter to be protective, Bassler said.
The federal agency is currently conducting a cleanup of the groundwater at each affected building, above ground, she said.
“As part of this remedy, EPA will monitor private wells to ensure residents are not exposed to TCE above acceptable risk-based exposure levels,” Bassler said. “EPA can amend the remedy to add any necessary additional measures if a larger cleanup system is needed.”
The decision follows a public health assessment released May 16 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Public Health Service.
Bassler said the EPA is projecting that the TCE in the groundwater will be removed by using the filters on the groundwater in Garden City so that the maximum contaminant level of 5 parts per billion is not exceeded.
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry in Atlanta, Georgia, a federal public health agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is required to assess properties on the list about potential chemical exposures for people who live or work in Garden City.
The report states that as long as granular-activated carbon filtration systems on three residential wells that have tested positive for TCE are monitored and maintained, and testing continues for commercial well 2 for the Columbus City Utilities, people using the water are not being exposed to TCE.
In addition to the three residential wells, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management also installed a filter system for a drive-in restaurant business operating in Garden City.
The survey has determined that residents who use drinking water from the Garden City Mobile Home Park well and one of the residential wells being filtered are currently exposed to low levels of TCE in drinking water. The levels are not expected to harm humans, according to the report.
A nearby office complex in Garden City receiving water from a commercial well has minimal exposure to TCE in drinking water, and it too is not expected to harm the health of employees working in the office, the report states.
There appears to be no health hazard from drinking or using water from the Columbus City Utilities, although several of the utilities’ commercial wells are being monitored for TCE, according to the EPA report.
The entire Garden City TCE plume is within the southern wellhead protection area for the city of Columbus, the report states. Columbus Utilities operates 15 groundwater wells in the Marr-Glick well field, with the municipal wells closest to Garden City less than a mile south and southeast of the town.
Since the early 1950s, Columbus has obtained its drinking water from groundwater — from 22 gravel-packed wells and two filtration plants, one in Lincoln Park near Columbus Regional Hospital and the other just north of Southside Elementary School near the Bartholomew County 4-H Fairgrounds.
While the report states water serving more than 44,000 residents of Columbus contains no health risk, the results are more mixed about the water being used by 256 Garden City residents, the report states.
Incomplete test samples
Testing in that small community can’t be considered conclusive because four residential wells and one commercial well have not been sampled since 2011, due to what the report describes as access issues. Based on his own experiences, former Columbus Utilities Director Keith Reeves said that likely means some property owners are not allowing testing on their property.
For several years, trust issues have existed among some Garden City residents who fear they will be forced to connect to city utilities and pay installation costs that exceed their means, Reeves said.
The new report recommends that the Environmental Protection Agency step in to sample and analyze water from all private Garden City wells. If residents don’t want their drinking water monitored, they should either install and maintain a granular-activated carbon (GAC) filter system — or connect to city utilities, according to the report.
If further groundwater testing renews legitimate health concerns, it should be up to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to either install and maintain GAC filter systems, or residents to connect to city water, the recommendations state.
For Garden City residents, it’s good news that the report states levels of contamination found in places such as the 47 lots in the Garden City Mobile Home Park and a nearby office complex are not high enough to be considered harmful, the report states.
Currently, city water and sewer utilities extend north from the fairgrounds along State Road 11, but turns east just inside the Garden City limits, Reeves said. After crossing the East Fork White River, the pipes and lines continue toward Gladstone Avenue, he said.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Where to learn more” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry has released its health investigation report, “Garden City Groundwater Plume NPL Site ” in Garden City, Indiana, for public comment.
Available data was evaluated to determine if people who live and work in Garden City were exposed to potentially harmful levels of volatile organic compounds in air, soil and groundwater.
Copies can be reviewed inside the Bartholomew County Public Library at 536 Fifth St.
The report is also available online at: atsdr.cdc.gov/HAC/PHA/index.asp.
[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”What is TCE?” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a colorless, volatile liquid, which evaporates quickly into the air. It is nonflammable and has a sweet odor.
Its two major uses are as a solvent to remove grease from metal parts or as a chemical used to make other chemicals, particularly refrigerant. It is widely used for dry cleaning fabrics.
Trichloroethylene enters the body when a person breathes air or drinks water containing the industrial solvent, according to the Environmental Protection agency.
The federal National Toxicology Program classifies the chemical as reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen based on limited evidence from studies in humans. The studies showed increased rates of liver and kidney cancer and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, most found among workers exposed to TCE on the job.
For more information, visit the Toxic Substances and Disease Registry website at atsdr.cdc.gov/toxFAQs/index.asp or call 800-232-4636.
[sc:pullout-text-end]
