9.24.08
 
Wells won't hurt aquifer, EPA tells Mead residents
by Nancy Gaarder, Omaha World-Herald

ASHLAND, Neb. -- At a sometimes contentious meeting, the Environmental Protection Agency's top regional official assured Mead-area residents Tuesday evening that the Metropolitan Utilities District's new wells would not be allowed to worsen existing pollution in the aquifer.

Area residents are worried that M.U.D.'s pumping, which will begin shortly, will create an underground tug on the aquifer, causing the pollutants to migrate into their water wells. Tests indicate that about two miles of unpolluted ground lies between the Superfund site and M.U.D.'s wells.

EPA Regional Administrator John Askew said the Corps of Engineers' testing has determined that contamination is under control at the site on the Mead side of the pollution. That is an important point in any future liability concerning the future movement of the pollutants.

"We'll hold them to that," he said.

The corps is conducting the cleanup of the former munitions site. The EPA is overseeing the cleanup.

Lynn Moorer, an attorney for the residents, was skeptical that M.U.D. would cooperate with the EPA if the agency finds that pollution is spreading. The utility, she pointed out, has stipulated in its agreements with the government that it must concur that it is the cause of the spread of pollutants before it will alter its pumping routines.

"That will be a very, very difficult thing to do -- to ever have M.U.D. agree they're the cause," Moorer said.

M.U.D. did not send a representative to the meeting, and utility officials said prior to the meeting that they would not respond to allegations made at the meeting.

Tuesday's meeting was convened in part by State Sen. Don Preister of Omaha to provide residents the latest information on contaminated groundwater outside of Mead.

An information vacuum has existed for about a year, residents say, because the corps has not met with its community advisory board.

Askew told residents the EPA wants to facilitate better relationships with the corps.

"We need to find a way to have a public discourse that's civil," Askew said. "Something is broken here -- what's broken is the ability to get the Corps in the same room with the people around here to give you the information you need."

But Askew ran into his own problems with residents.

Because the Corps did not send a representative to the meeting, the EPA was the only agency available to provide technical answers at the meeting. However, Askew intentionally left his technical staff in Kansas City.

Lorus Luetkenhaus, acting co-chairman of the community advisory board, told Askew that residents won't meet with the Corps because they believe the federal agency is attempting to structure illegal meetings.

When Askew said he "respectfully disagreed," Luetkenhaus said he had documents to support his position.

Residents also got a glimpse of some of the difficulties the EPA may face in monitoring M.U.D.'s pumping. Askew said the utility initially refused to provide him with its pumping rates.

"I tried to get numbers from M.U.D. on how much they were pumping," he said. "They weren't very forthcoming, because of national security issues."

M.U.D., he said, eventually provided the data.

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