[CPEO-MEF] Explosive compounds in Badger (WI) water

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

PRESS RELEASE
November 1, 2005
From Laura Olah <cswab@merr.com>

Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger
E12629 Weigand’s Bay South - Merrimac, WI  53561
Email: info@cswab.org - Website: www.cswab.org

Low Levels of Explosives Suspected in Wells near Badger

Expert Says WDNR Reports Are Misleading

            Earlier this year, the Wisconsin Department of Natural 
Resources (WDNR) assured rural neighbors of Badger Army Ammunition Plant 
that their wells were free of the explosive dinitrotoluene (DNT).  The 
WDNR said that the reported detections of the suspected human carcinogen 
were “false positives"– a conclusion that experts now say is inaccurate 
and misleading.

             “I am critical of the use of the term 'false 
                                               positives' because there 
is no real evidence of an interference or any other proof of false 
detects,” said Dr. Jerry Eykholt, an environmental engineer hired by the 
Badger Restoration Advisory Board to monitor cleanup activities at the 
closing base.  “I believe the term is misleading, given the lack of any 
hard evidence or a specific reason that the detects could be considered 
false.”

            Dr. Eykholt’s findings contradict notices sent to hundreds 
of residents living in an area extending from the Dairy Forage Research 
Center south to the northern edge of the Village of Prairie du Sac.  In 
a January 10 letter, the WDNR said “of the more than eighty (80) private 
wells sampled as part of this study, DNT has been confirmed in four, and 
is currently present in only two wells.”

            Because the initial tests were inconclusive, Dr. Eykholt 
believes it is possible that as many as 18 private drinking water 
supplies may still have low levels of DNT.  Detected levels ranged from 
0.01 to 0.08 parts per billion; the safe drinking water standard is 0.05 
parts per billion.  At least eight (8) private wells that had low levels 
of DNT are no longer being tested by the Army; 4 homes are located in 
the Windings subdivision; 2 are on Dam Heights Road; and 2 homes are in 
the Gruber's Grove Bay neighborhood.

            After the WDNR assured residents that DNT was “not present” 
in their wells, the Army discontinued providing free bottled water and 
many families resumed using their well water for cooking, drinking, and 
other household uses.

            WDNR officials argue that Dr. Eykholt’s findings are 
irrelevant.  Department representatives said that even if Eykholt is 
correct, previously detected levels are below state standards and 
therefore the water is safe to drink. “It would not change the 
Department’s response”, they said.

            As it stands, the WDNR cannot assure the public that DNT is 
not present at low levels.  “We don’t know, there is no way of checking, 
and there is no way to prove that there were false positives,” Dr. 
Eykholt emphasized.  “Using the term ‘false positive’ can be a problem 
as a part of communication.  There has to be proof that the DNT is not 
there.”

            Sorting out whose well is truly clean or not has been made 
even more difficult because the WDNR recently allowed the Army to change 
water test methods.  The new method for testing drinking water is less 
sensitive and is not capable of detecting the low levels that the old 
method could.  In addition, the new method can only detect 2 forms 
(isomers) of DNT; the old method could detect four.  The Wisconsin 
Division of Health supports a test method that can detect very low 
levels of DNT and that is capable of detecting all forms of the 
contaminant, but so far the WDNR has not enforced these recommendations.

            The explosive DNT is not the only contaminant that has been 
detected in private wells near Badger.  Low levels of 11 different 
contaminants were found in private wells, including ethyl ether – a 
chemical used in the manufacture of military propellants.  The WDNR, 
however, said that it is no longer requiring the Army to monitor 
contaminant levels in the affected private wells because detected 
concentrations were well below drinking water standards.

            Dr. Eykholt believes continued monitoring could be 
beneficial.  “Ethyl ether and other contaminants might be important 
because it might be a leading edge of something else to come,” Dr. 
Eykholt told members of the Badger Restoration Advisory Board at their 
September 19 meeting.  “You do need to look at other contaminants such 
as nitrates and ethyl ether because it might give us a better idea of 
where the (groundwater contaminant) plumes might be. The nitrates, for 
example, might be a better delineation of source areas and where the 
contamination might be coming from.”

            Earlier this year, testing revealed that 2 homes in the 
Water’s Edge development on Gruber’s Grove Bay did have DNT 
concentrations above health standards.  The Army has installed deeper 
wells for both families and so far DNT has not been detected in the 
replacement wells.

            “There are no guarantees that the new wells (at the Water’s 
Edge Development) will not become contaminated,” WDNR officials told 
residents at a July 28 informational meeting at Badger.  “We avoided 
getting into the bedrock where the water quality is not aesthetically 
good.”

            The Army has also installed 3 groups of groundwater 
monitoring wells in the Water’s Edge neighborhood.  DNT was detected 
above the safe standard in all of them.  (Groundwater monitoring wells 
are not used to provide drinking water.)  New groundwater monitoring 
wells are also planned for the Windings and Dam Heights subdivisions, 
just north of Prairie du Sac.

            “Until the Army has restored groundwater quality, it is 
clear that nearby residential wells remain vulnerable,” said Laura Olah, 
Executive Director of Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger.  “We will 
be meeting with local government boards and WDNR administrators to 
secure the reinstatement of private well testing and better test 
methods, and the enforcement of a contingency plan that will assure 
drinking water supplies are free of military toxins now and in the future.”

--

Laura Olah, Executive Director
Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger
E12629 Weigands Bay S
Merrimac, WI 53561
phone: (608)643-3124
email: info@cswab.org
website: www.cswab.org


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