Toxic water or technical glitch?

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Colorado
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
Toxic water or technical glitch?
Residents seeking truth from agencies
By Jim Tankersley
January 28, 2004

Federal scientists detected traces of toxic material deep below a
Douglas County explosives plant in 1996 in water linked to nearby
drinking wells - a finding state officials didn't share with a concerned
group of citizens last week.

The Environmental Protection Agency later discounted its findings, after
future tests failed to confirm them. But it posted them on its Web site
until last week.

At a public hearing Jan. 21, state health officials and an environmental
scientist denied any test had ever shown dangerous material in deep
groundwater beneath the former Ensign-Bickford plant near Louviers.

An official at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
on Tuesday called the apparent discrepancy "a technical discussion." A
public health activist called it "lies and fraud."

Since 1980, the EPA and state health department have switched off
responsibility for regulating hazardous materials at the plant, which
stopped making explosives in 1996.

The state is now watching over the site and a cleanup effort that its
current owner, Dyno Nobel Inc., wants to end soon.

Activists and some people living near the plant worry contaminated
groundwater below the site could spread to drinking water in Louviers
and beyond, including larger communities such as Highlands Ranch.

Tests have shown high levels of explosives in shallow groundwater at the
plant. State officials have repeatedly said that water can't flow to
deeper water sources, which feed drinking wells.

No one is testing local drinking water for explosives, and state
officials say there's no need to.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_2610073,00.html

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