Efforts to determine whether contamination at the Anniston Army Depot has spread to off-post groundwater sources are continuing, according to a depot environmental engineer.The Army has cored bedrock holes, installed wells and is sampling groundwater near its Southeast Industrial Area, where it has been treating groundwater pollution for over 13 years. The object is to establish a model for how the groundwater flows from the Superfund site by determining the properties of the local geology.
"We're looking for zones that will transmit water and contaminants," said the engineer, Pat Smith, at the quarterly meeting of the depot's Restoration Advisory Board.
The main source of concern is trichloroethylene - TCE - an industrial degreaser that was, for decades, stored in ditches and lagoons at the depot. Believed by the EPA to cause liver disease and increase the chance of contracting cancer, TCE isn't found in local private wells, save for the one that supplies Cooper Catfish Lakes.
There, TCE was found in the amount of 190 parts per billion, Smith said. The federal standard for TCE is 5 parts per billion in drinking water. Nevertheless, public health officials determined that eating fish from the lake is fine, but that the well should not be used as a regular source of drinking water.
The Army is in the process of trying to purchase the property.
Following the conclusion of the sampling, a feasibility study will be performed to determine what options are available for remediation of the contamination.
Smith said that the current investigations are an attempt to determine whether the small presence of TCE in Coldwater Springs results from the depot's contamination.
A representative from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry said his agency could conduct a study of health effects from TCE if the Environmental Protection Agency lowers the standard to 1 part per billion as has been discussed.
"We won't do a study if it's below the (current standard)," said Carl Blair, who represented the agency at the meeting.
The board also discussed whether to investigate the effects of the county landfill on the groundwater contamination the Army is studying.
"The potential exists to skew the results of what we are acting on now," said Keith Howland, a board member.
No action was taken on Howland's suggestions to look at how runoff from the landfill affects nearby wells. Several members raised concerns as to whether such an investigation would fall outside the Army's purview.
