Citizens showed up to the GFCA meeting on Nov. 11 to find out whether Kleinfelder was going to add more extraction pumps to clear the gas plume more quickly. Photo by Reena Singh.
Residents got an update about the methyl tert-butyl ether [MTBE] plume below the Georgetown Pike and Walker Road intersection last week.
Officials from Kleinfelder and the Department of Environmental Quality talked about the removal of the toxic plume so far, assuring residents that their well water will remain clean throughout the cleanup efforts during a Great Falls Citizens Association Town Hall meeting on Nov. 11.
“We have a zero tolerance policy for any petroleum constituents in well water,” DEQ Senior geologist Randy Chapman said. If there is one thing in there, other things may not be far behind.”
The reason for the meeting was that the citizen’s association requested representatives from Kleinfelder and Fairfax Petroleum Company for an alternate plan to accommodate for the side of the plume reaching Oliver Estates to be presented. The letter asked for several additional extraction pumps to speed up the removal process.
According to Kleinfelder Geologist Nathan Stevens there is one pump that was recently installed that will be working soon. Adding another pump, however, may draw water away from wells.
What could not be promised was that the site would be completely clean when Kleinfelder was eventually done pumping MTBE out of the ground. MBTE eventually degrades into Tert-Butyl Alcohol, of which the effects are unknown.
The reason many of these residents came to the town hall meeting is because about 80 percent of homes in Great Falls run on a well-water system. The plume that originated from the former Exxon gas station on Georgetown Pike has begun heading towards a group of homes known as Oliver Estates.
“Our skepticism comes from the concern for our drinking water,” said GFCA Groundwater Contamination co-chair Glen Sjoblom.
Dranesville Supervisor John Foust came to the meeting to show his support.
“I thought the meeting went very well,” he said. “I thought the consultants and the DEQ made a very good presentation.”
He said that although he liked what he heard from the consultants about the rate they will be pumping MTBE out of the ground, there were still some questions as to how exactly that was going to be done and that remediation issues still need to be addressed.
GFCA president Eric Knudsen noted he recently found that his well water had trace amounts of MTBE. The DEQ’s “no tolerance” policy starts if there is one part per billion of MTBE in the water. Any less of it is considered a trace amount and could possibly be a fluke.
Kleinfelder Program Manager Mark Steele said that MTBE was officially phased out of gasoline in 2006, so there was no risk of the particle being found in the current Exxon station, adding to the plume that is currently forcing its way through rock fissures in its journey towards Oliver Estates.