Homeowner near Mead Superfund site calls for investigation
Posted: Tuesday, December 28, 2004
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- A homeowner near a former bomb factory being cleaned up because of groundwater and soil contamination is calling for a federal investigation, alleging that she and others were lied to about recent tests of drinking water.
In a letter sent Monday to U.S. Sens. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., Janet Piercy of Ashland claims the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lied at a November meeting about testing results of wells near the former Nebraska Ordnance Plant near Mead southwest of Omaha.
The woman's attorney, Lynn Moorer, obtained documents from the state Department of Environmental Quality showing that eight chemicals or chemical compounds were discovered in four of 30 water wells tested in October.
But the corps told residents at a Nov. 30 meeting that tests of 37 wells showed no detectable contamination, Moorer said.
"They told the public everything came up clean," Moorer said Monday. "The corps' latest lie confirms what many people have suspected -- that the situation is a lot worse than the corps is admitting."
Officials with the corps who are familiar with the Mead site did not immediately return calls Monday seeking comment on the allegations made in Piercy's letter.
Four homeowners in the Mead area were sent letters from the corps dated Nov. 22 showing that reportable levels of eight contaminants were found, five of which had not been detected before.
The wells contained reportable levels of contaminants carbon disulfide, chloroform, two types of trimethylbenzene and two types of xylene, bromoform, and dibromochloromethane, the letters show. All of the levels of contaminants found were within legal limits for drinking water, according to the letters.
Piercy, who lives within one mile of the site, was told her well tested positive for carbon disulfide and chloroform. She attended the November meeting but had yet to receive the letter from the corps at the time.
The results of the testing throw into question everything homeowners in the area had previously been told, Piercy said.
It is additionally troubling given that Omaha's Metropolitan Utilities District is planning a well field project two miles east of the Superfund site, Piercy said in her letters to the senators.
Once operational as planned in 2008 it could pump 104 million gallons of water per day into Omaha area homes. Residents are afraid it will pump in contaminants, but MUD and the corps have said that will not happen.
Piercy is asking Nelson and Hagel to launch a federal investigation into the corps to find out why the test results were not revealed at the November meeting, why what was said at the meeting wasn't corrected and what other information is being withheld relative to contamination in the area.
Copies of the letter also were being sent to Gov. Mike Johanns and the state Department of Environmental Quality, Health and Human Services and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Johanns' spokeswoman Terri Teuber said the governor's office had not received the letter Monday and had no immediate comment on the allegations. The state DEQ referred questions to the corps.
About 24 square miles are contaminated with solvents and explosives from the former factory, which was used to build bombs for World War II and the Korean War.
About 9,600 acres of the land was purchased by the University of Nebraska in the 1960s and 1970s.
While the university-owned land is currently being used primarily for agricultural research and storage, state DEQ records show that in the 1970s the university buried radioactive medical waste there and possibly further contaminated the area by allowing pesticides to leak into the soil while cleaning farm equipment.
The university was told this month that it may have to come up with $6 million to help pay for cleaning up its share of the contamination.
Cleanup at the site is projected to take decades.
AP-CS-12-27-04 1626EST
In a letter sent Monday to U.S. Sens. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., Janet Piercy of Ashland claims the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lied at a November meeting about testing results of wells near the former Nebraska Ordnance Plant near Mead southwest of Omaha.
The woman's attorney, Lynn Moorer, obtained documents from the state Department of Environmental Quality showing that eight chemicals or chemical compounds were discovered in four of 30 water wells tested in October.
But the corps told residents at a Nov. 30 meeting that tests of 37 wells showed no detectable contamination, Moorer said.
"They told the public everything came up clean," Moorer said Monday. "The corps' latest lie confirms what many people have suspected -- that the situation is a lot worse than the corps is admitting."
Officials with the corps who are familiar with the Mead site did not immediately return calls Monday seeking comment on the allegations made in Piercy's letter.
Four homeowners in the Mead area were sent letters from the corps dated Nov. 22 showing that reportable levels of eight contaminants were found, five of which had not been detected before.
The wells contained reportable levels of contaminants carbon disulfide, chloroform, two types of trimethylbenzene and two types of xylene, bromoform, and dibromochloromethane, the letters show. All of the levels of contaminants found were within legal limits for drinking water, according to the letters.
Piercy, who lives within one mile of the site, was told her well tested positive for carbon disulfide and chloroform. She attended the November meeting but had yet to receive the letter from the corps at the time.
The results of the testing throw into question everything homeowners in the area had previously been told, Piercy said.
It is additionally troubling given that Omaha's Metropolitan Utilities District is planning a well field project two miles east of the Superfund site, Piercy said in her letters to the senators.
Once operational as planned in 2008 it could pump 104 million gallons of water per day into Omaha area homes. Residents are afraid it will pump in contaminants, but MUD and the corps have said that will not happen.
Piercy is asking Nelson and Hagel to launch a federal investigation into the corps to find out why the test results were not revealed at the November meeting, why what was said at the meeting wasn't corrected and what other information is being withheld relative to contamination in the area.
Copies of the letter also were being sent to Gov. Mike Johanns and the state Department of Environmental Quality, Health and Human Services and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Johanns' spokeswoman Terri Teuber said the governor's office had not received the letter Monday and had no immediate comment on the allegations. The state DEQ referred questions to the corps.
About 24 square miles are contaminated with solvents and explosives from the former factory, which was used to build bombs for World War II and the Korean War.
About 9,600 acres of the land was purchased by the University of Nebraska in the 1960s and 1970s.
While the university-owned land is currently being used primarily for agricultural research and storage, state DEQ records show that in the 1970s the university buried radioactive medical waste there and possibly further contaminated the area by allowing pesticides to leak into the soil while cleaning farm equipment.
The university was told this month that it may have to come up with $6 million to help pay for cleaning up its share of the contamination.
Cleanup at the site is projected to take decades.
AP-CS-12-27-04 1626EST
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