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12.29.02 Find the real questions 'Hot spot' of pollution at Mead is cause for concern, but maybe not delay on an M.U.D. wellfield. The heavy concentration of potentially dangerous pollution found on the west side of the Mead Superfund site is a development that warrants forthright investigation. It does not warrant overreaction. The Nebraska Ordnance Plant Superfund site is the Saunders County location where bombs, rockets and shells were made during World War II and the Korean War. Atlas missiles also were there during the Cold War. The ground is contaminated with solvents and chemicals such as Royal Demolition Explosive, and the Army Corps of Engineers is in the process of cleaning it up. The work could take 100 years. The recently uncovered "hot spot" is a heavy concentration of TCE, used to flush out missile fuel lines, on the west side of the 24-square- mile site. It is far more concentrated than experts had expected, but apparently it, too, will be dealt with. The discovery gives Saunders County residents and officials, who have long opposed the location of an Omaha drinking-water wellfield uphill of the Superfund site, another hook on which to hang their objections. Certainly, all aspects of the hot spot and its implications for the clean-up site should be explored. It was unexpected, something that happens with these clean-up sites. The Metropolitan Utilities District wellfield, however, is far from the hot spot, and previous studies have indicated it is not in any realistic danger of contamination. The need for this wellfield to supply the Omaha metropolitan area with water is vital. This community faces curtailment of new development and possible mandatory water restrictions if the Platte West water plant does not proceed. The corps has already fallen behind schedule in its decision-making process -- a process that is necessary before M.U.D. begins construction. We believe that the federal agency can use existing scientific information and common sense to move M.U.D.'s project ahead. The real problems posed by the Superfund site are to the south of M.U.D.'s wellfield site, which straddles the Douglas-Saunders County line. Without corps action to curtail the spread of pollution, contaminants could eventually reach Lincoln's only wellfield, near Ashland. U.S. Rep. Doug Bereuter, who represents Saunders County, has asked the corps to respond to questions raised by longtime opponents. Of course it should. But many questions have been raised and answered time and time again by the corps, M.U.D. and others, and we would hope that the corps can distinguish legitimate new questions from background noise and proceed accordingly. The need is urgent. M.U.D. is ready to build. The corps, assuming that it discovers no major surprises, needs to find a way to allow the utility to do so. |
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