Agency tells court it is not convinced that cleanup method is proper

Thursday, February 26, 2004

Representatives from the state Department of Environmental Quality said in court Wednesday they would challenge a plan to clean up a chemical carcinogen from Ann Arbor area groundwater if they disagree with the proposed methods.

At a status hearing of the long-running cleanup of 1,4 dioxane from aquifers around Scio Township's Pall Life Sciences, an assistant state attorney general argued DEQ was not convinced "in-situ" treatment was the best way to clean up pollution in a low-lying aquifer under the city.

"We don't think this is a magic bullet," Robert Reichel, who represents DEQ in the status hearings, told Circuit Court Judge Donald Shelton. Part of the issue, he said, is that trying to fix the problem by pumping treatment into the groundwater (rather than removing the water and treating it) is that the plume could continue to spread.

The company plans to test the in-situ technology, which involves injecting hydrogen peroxide into polluted groundwater at a site close to the leading edge of the plume of contamination, to see if it works. Maple Village shopping center has been proposed as location for the test.

Based on those tests, the final feasibility study would propose whether in-situ could accomplish the cleanup. That study was originally to be completed in December, but access issues have caused delays, officials said. Meanwhile, the contamination has been marching eastward, under Maple Village and Vet's Park at an estimated two feet per day.

Shelton appeared impatient at times with both parties. Part of the purpose of status hearings on the cleanup, he pointed out, was to get both sides to refocus on the top priority: bringing pollution to low enough levels that the groundwater meets state drinking water quality standards. And the court would order that cleanup regardless of whether Pall, DEQ or city and county officials agreed with the methods.

"We're going to keep this process moving," he said.

Shelton ordered Pall to submit its final feasibility study June 1, and ordered DEQ to respond by Sept. 1. The next status hearing is scheduled for Sept. 8.

Municipal officials have also expressed concerns about controlling underground chemical reactions, and byproducts such as salts that could create another source of contamination.

Reichel added that there was a "distinct possibility" DEQ would disagree with Pall's proposed final solution, and that DEQ would take the matter up in court if officials felt it was necessary.

But Michael Caldwell, one of the attorneys representing Pall, argued that other options like pumping and treating, created issues like what to do with the treated water and operating noisy rigs in densely packed Ann Arbor neighborhoods. And the company had faced hurdles before when attempting to deal with pollution within city limits, he added.

At issue is widespread, high levels of contamination from the dioxane that affect potential drinking water supplies underground. The chemical solvent is believed to have made its way into groundwater through unlined lagoons, where dioxane-containing wastewater was stored, and through spray irrigation of the wastewater over lawns at the Wagner Road facility. In the mid-1980s, dioxane turned up in area lakes and wells.

Medical filter maker Pall, which bought the former Gelman Sciences in 1997, has removed and treated over 2.2 billion gallons of groundwater in the past seven years and removed over 56,000 pounds of 1,4-dioxane from the affected aquifers.

Municipal water comes from the Huron River and no wells are believed to be contaminated. The city removed a west-side municipal well from its water supply after low levels of dioxane turned up and continue to be found in the water. State environmental laws require polluted groundwater to be cleaned up to safe standards because they are a potential source of drinking water.

Tracy Davis can be reached at tdavis@annarbornews.com or (734) 994-6856.