[CPEO-BIF] "Pumping polluted groundwater taking toll on some east metro aquifer levels, " Minnesota

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Pumping polluted groundwater taking toll on some east metro aquifer  
levels

By Bob Shaw
St. Paul Pioneer Press (MN)
May 18, 2014

As White Bear Lake dries up like a puddle in the sun and underground  
water levels drop, who's to blame? Along with the usual suspects of  
suburban lawns and golf courses, a new competitor for water is  
emerging -- companies ordered to pump up and clean polluted groundwater.

According to well-permit records from the Minnesota Department of  
Natural Resources, state-ordered pollution pumping removed 3.3  
billion gallons from metro-area aquifers in 2012. That's enough to  
fill 155 miles of Olympic-sized swimming pools lined up end to end.

In Washington County, the problem is especially acute: The city of  
Woodbury, with a population of 65,000, pulls about 3 billion gallons  
a year from the Prairie du Chien Aquifer with its several municipal  
wells. 3M pumps nearly half as much -- about 1.4 billion gallons a  
year -- just to control pollution, and most of that comes from wells  
in Woodbury.

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_25790090/pumping-polluted- 
groundwater-taking-toll-some-east-metro

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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