The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

Clark Co. wells not polluted, recent tests reveal

4 wells near the former landfill showed no signs of contamination.

Rosemary Clooney musical makes world debut in Dayton
3:34 p.m.
We want your feedback on the national mortgage settlement
1:50 p.m.
Registered sex offender indicted on teen rape charge
12:47 p.m.
Kenton Ridge locked down again
11:44 a.m.
Were You A Girl Scout? Talk to our reporter
11:01 a.m.
> More headlines

By Brandon Smith-Hebson, Staff Writer Updated 3:23 AM Thursday, November 10, 2011

NEW CARLISLE — The carcinogens seeping from the long-closed New Carlisle landfill haven’t made their way to residential wells in the area, according to recent tests.

The Clark County Combined Health District commissioned the tests after a Springfield News-Sun report on Sept. 29 brought to light that nearby wells hadn’t been tested since 2007.

The four wells tested with permission of their owners are all potentially in the path of slow-moving underground pollution, according to Rachel Townsend, a hydrologist with the health district. And their placement forms a boundary around where the pollution could be, she said — so other area residents aren’t likely in danger of drinking water polluted by the landfill.

One longtime resident, Richard Brandt, saw the earlier News-Sun article and called the health district to see if he could lend his well for a test. As it turned out, the home he and his wife own was in the path of pollution. So Townsend, a test technician, and two others paid him a visit.

“They ran water out of the well about 10 minutes. ... They took several containers, about 6 ounces each,” Brandt said. “The (testing personnel) seemed fairly efficient and polite.”

Brandt was happy to hear the results on Friday, when the health district called him to let him know.

The former landfill, which closed in the 1970s, is on the U.S. EPA’s list of most polluted places in the country — along with about 1,300 other sites. It’s been on the list for two years and U.S. EPA hasn’t done any well testing of its own.

The national agency is “a lumbering giant,” Townsend said, “but (the landfill) is queued up nicely,” in line for cleanup.

Sometimes sites get stuck on a part of the process that the landfill has already completed, she said. The most dangerous pollutant found in groundwater south of the landfill is vinyl chloride, a potent carcinogen and possible neurological and reproductive toxin.

But the health district thought it prudent to test for a host of chemicals in the same family, called volatile organic compounds. The test cost $105 for each of the four wells, plus labor costs, according to Dan Chatfield, an environmental health official at the district.

Continuing coverage New Carlisle landfill

Share this article