DEM TAKES ACTIONS TO ADDRESS CONTAMINATED PUBLIC DRINKING WATER WELLS IN PASCOAG

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Pascoag Water District Factheets

News Release
RI Department of Environmental Management
235 Promenade St., Providence, RI 02908
(401) 222-2771 TDD/(401) 222-4462

For Release:	September 13, 2001
Contact:	Gail Mastrati 222-4700 ext. 2402 Stephanie Powell 222-4700 ext. 4418

DEM TAKES ACTIONS TO ADDRESS CONTAMINATED PUBLIC DRINKING WATER WELLS IN PASCOAG
Gives Emergency Approval to Harrisville Fire District for New Well Field; Issues Immediate Compliance Orders to Two Facilities with Leaking Gasoline

PROVIDENCE - The Department of Environmental Management today issued an emergency approval for the Harrisville Fire District to construct a new well supply near Eccelston Field in Burrillville. The district had sought the approval to possibly assist the Pascoag Fire District, which is coping with an MTBE contamination problem at two well sites. Prior to the emergency, the Harrisville Fire District had filed an application with DEM to develop the Eccelston Field site to meet its own district's needs.

The emergency approval enables the district to move forward immediately with the construction and operation of the new well field if it chooses to do so. The approval and an associated letter from DEM set forth several conditions that the district will need to meet in order to obtain final authorization to operate the well field on a permanent basis. A key condition is that the district must monitor the impacts of the new well field on stream flow in the Clear River and associated wetlands. If such impacts are found to occur, the district may be required to limit withdrawals during periods of low flow.

In reaching its decision on the emergency approval for the new well field, DEM consulted closely with the RI Department of Health and the RI Water Resources Board.

Also today, DEM issued two immediate compliance orders to address situations found while testing for the gasoline additive MTBE at sites in Pascoag. One orders Main Street Mobil at 24 North Main Street in Pascoag to investigate and remediate leaking petroleum from underground storage tanks at the station. The other orders the Town of Burrillville to evaluate the effectiveness of an ongoing remediation of a leaking underground storage tank site at its public works garage at 65 Union Avenue and take action to correct any deficiencies. Although both sites are near the two Pascoag Fire District public drinking water wells that are contaminated with MTBE, it is not known if the contamination stems from the gasoline leaks at either or both sites.

Seven inches of gasoline, with high concentrations of MTBE, were discovered last Thursday in a recently installed groundwater monitoring well located approximately 20 feet from Main Street Mobil's underground storage tanks. The company has five tanks registered with DEM, three of which store gasoline. Each has a capacity of 6,000 gallons.

Under the compliance order, Robert L. Laverdiere and Mary Ellen Laverdiere, owners of Pascoag Main Street Service, and Potter Oil, Inc., which operates the station, must immediately assume full responsibility for all on-site and off-site investigation and remedial activities relating to the facility's underground storage tanks; within 24 hours engage a qualified environmental consultant or contractor to oversee the work; within 72 hours perform leak detection "precision" testing on the facility's three gasoline underground storage tank systems and immediately empty any questionable tanks; and investigate the extent of subsurface contamination and remediate the site.

The Town of Burrillville has been involved in investigation and cleanup activities at its public works garage since gasoline was discovered when underground tanks were removed several years ago. Under today's compliance order, the town must engage the services of an environmental consultant/contractor within 24 hours to evaluate the performance of its existing remedial systems and conduct further subsurface investigations to determine whether any petroleum contamination has moved off-site or otherwise escaped the existing remedial efforts. Although MTBE has been present in groundwater from shallow monitoring wells at the public works facility, no information is currently available regarding the water quality of the bedrock aquifer at and down-gradient of it. Therefore, the compliance order specifies that the town's investigation must include a study of the bedrock aquifer at those places. The town must submit a general scope of work and a time schedule to DEM within 72 hours, and must implement the work within 48 hours of DEM's approval of the submitted plan.

Both compliance orders are enforceable in Superior Court. In each of the two compliance orders, three specific violations of law were cited. Failure to comply can result in civil and/or criminal penalties of up to $25,000 per violation per day.

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