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dumps
riot leaking
Well tests show
no contamination
By DAPHNE HUTCHINSON
Rappahannock New* Staff Writer
Groundwater samples taken from 92 wells in the Amissville area, with particular concentration near two unlined and abandoned dumps, show no contamination by agricultural chemicals, the most toxic materials believed to have gone into the dumps.
“A list of the most likely chemicals used by orchardists was compiled and used as a guideline in a separate phase of testing that covered 10 wells around one of the old dumps,” says the report compiled by Andrew W. McThenia, the graduate student from Washington & Lee Univerity assigned to the ground water study under a Virginia Student Environmental Health Project grant. “Results of the samplings do not reveal any contamination that can be attributed to the old dumps.”
Mr. McThenia notes, however, that orchardists and extension agents could “only provide a spotty list of chemicals used in the last 20 years (since) farmers keep few records and the extension agent only keeps records for five years.”
The agronomy lab at VP I was unable to analyze for some of the pesticides that may have been used in Rappahannock, and additionally a few water samples contained small traces of pesticides in the parts per billion range, Mr. McThenia reports. “Ideally, the water samples should contain no pesticides, but based on the sources available to us, these pesticide levels do not seem to pose a health threat. However, further testing on a periodic basis is recommended. ”
Many of the wells sampled showed levels of iron and manganese above the secondary maximum contaminant level, but these levels are based on aesthetic considerations, not human health, Mr. McThenia notes. 'The only unpleasant effects associated with iron and manganese are staining and bitter taste. This was a common complaint and may be corrected by home treatment systems.”
Tests also showed Amissville’s ground water to be acidic, a condition that is partly responsible for the high iron and manganese concentrations and which “probably contributes to the high lead content” of three samples, the W&L researcher notes.
In addition, Mr. McThenia detected the very strong smell of gasoline in water from one testing site, and concludes that tanks from a gasoline station displaced by the widening of Route 211 in 1974 were either never removed or leaked prior to removal.
He suggests that the exact location of the underground tank be determined and that soil borings be done to measure the extent of the contamination. Once this is accomplished, “a pump could be inserted in the middle of the zone to remove any gasoline floating on the ground water” so as to halt the contamination’s progress and shrink any contaminated zone.
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