[CPEO-MEF] Chemical is detected in Harford well field

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Maryland
Chemical is detected in Harford well field
APG says military activity is source of perchlorate
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By Lane Harvey Brown
Sun Staff
Originally published January 22, 2003

Tests of Harford County's well field have detected a hazardous chemical
discovered last year just miles up the road in the city of Aberdeen's
well field, and an Aberdeen Proving Ground spokesman acknowledged
yesterday that military activity in the area was the source of the
contamination.

A test conducted in December and released last week found that one of
the county's production wells has a detectable level of perchlorate, an
explosive salt used widely by the military in rocket fuel, smoke
grenades and other incendiary devices. No perchlorate was detected in
the finished drinking water, county officials said.

The wells are in Perryman along the western boundary of Aberdeen Proving
Ground. The well field is about five miles southwest of the city of
Aberdeen's well field.

The latest discovery was unsettling to military and state environmental
officials. "It certainly raises a red flag," said APG spokesman George
Mercer.

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