Groundwater in the Great Lakes Basin

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Case Study: Cady Road, Cuyahoga County, Ohio Source: ASTDR, 2008 (pg. 97). Twenty-five households in this neighbourhood rely on private wells for their potable water supply. In the mid-1950s several 3,000-foot-deep oil and gas wells were drilled along Cady Road. “Thereafter the residents complained of gases and odors in the water, the water’s oily appearance and taste, of explosions at the wellheads and of gas bubbling up through the ground.” During ATSDR’s 2002 health consultation, the area still included 13 oil and gas production wells and a saltwater injection well was also close to the private water wells. “Many of these wells had a history of violations for maintenance and accidents.” Whether contamination of the water wells was due to the adjacent oil and gas extraction wells and/or saltwater injection well or a subsurface fault in the shale that underlies the drinking water aquifer remains unclear. Either scenario could have allowed the upward migration of oil and gas into the overlying fresh water aquifer. Figure 11. Oil Springs, Ontario, 1866 Source: Dillon, http://www.petroliaheritage.com/oilSprings.htm As a result of the ATSDR health consultation, it was concluded that dissolved gases found in the well water (e.g., methane) were consistent with an oil and gas deposit origin and that the well water presented an Urgent Public Health Hazard (Category 1). Further, concentrations of combustibles gases in two of the home’s basements were near the explosive level. “In addition, hydrogen sulfide in the private well water posed a public health hazard because inhalation exposure from the resulting indoor air concentrations might have caused adverse health effects. Moreover, ingestion of sodium at the levels found in the well water could have been harmful to residents who had high blood pressure or who were on lowsodium diets.” Currently, Cady Road, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, is an ATSDR petition site. “It does not appear in the CERCLIS database, and no regulatory action has been taken.” Figure 12. Map showing principal mineral resource areas Source: Adapted from Great Lakes Atlas, 1995. 101
Nearly 16 million operational water wells (Wellowner. org, 2005), more than 520,000 operational oil wells and more than 393,000 gas wells are estimated to be spread across the United States (Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, 2005). There are an estimated 23,000 active oil wells in Pennsylvania (Polczer, 2008). In addition to these wells approximately 800,000 boreholes are drilled each year and more than 90,000 new drinking wells are constructed (Wellowner.org, 2005). Exact numbers of abandoned wells (Figure 13) across the U.S. are unknown or unavailable. However, the number is estimated to be in the tens of millions, and many of these are located within the Great Lakes states. Michigan DEQ estimates that Michigan may have as many as two million abandoned wells (Monroe Conservation District, 2004). Minnesota has between 700,000 to 1.2 million abandoned wells of which more than 350,000 are currently believed to have the potential to contaminate groundwater (Perham Wellhead Protection Program, 2004). In addition to 400,000 to 500,000 active water wells in Illinois, there are also an estimated 55,000 to 155,000 abandoned wells in the state (Illinois Department of Public Health, 2006; Illinois Government News Network, 1999; King, 1994). WELL CLOSURE AND DECOMMISSIONING 102 In Michigan the following conditions require that an abandoned well be plugged: The well is not operational, the well has been disconnected and taken out of service when connection to a municipal water system was made and inoperable and abandoned wells that are not properly sealed that pose safety and environmental hazards (Michigan DEQ, 2005). In Ontario it is the sole legal responsibility of the well owner to plug abandoned wells (Office of Legislative Counsel, 2003). In the U.S. it is also the legal responsibility of the well owner to properly plug abandoned wells; however, a number of states have implemented cost-share programs in order to assist owners (Monroe Conservation District, 2004). Today an unsuccessful water well, known as a “dry hole,” is normally plugged by the well drilling contractor but this was not always the case (Michigan DEQ, 2005). The enforcement of proper well decommissioning is extremely important. Under state and provincial laws, abandoned wells are required to be properly closed within a designated time frame. For example, in Illinois water, monitoring and geotechnical boring wells must be properly sealed within 30 days. However, this law is resource intensive, difficult to enforce and significant numbers of wells are therefore never properly closed. The status of water wells in Pennsylvania is of considerable concern since there no guidelines on the location, construction or maintenance of private Figure 13. Old abandoned well pump Photo By: D.W. Alley, 2007 wells. Currently, more than one million private water wells exist in Pennsylvania, with an additional 20,000 new wells constructed per year (Pennsylvania State University, 2007). In Ontario, standards for water well construction, disinfection and abandonment are specified under Regulation 903, which is enforced by Ontario MOE. This regulation states that it is the responsibility of the well owner to make sure that abandoned wells are properly plugged and sealed (Green Communities Canada, 2006). However, MOE does not consistently have staff dedicated to the investigation of private drinking water well construction, repair or abandonment (ECO, 2007). Currently there are only nine staff members in the MOE Water Well Business Unit. Lack of staff results in the unit being unable to carry out surprise visits to well drilling or abandonment operations of private well drillers (ECO, 2007).
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AReportoftheGreatLakesScienceAdviso
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Citation: Great Lakes Science Advis
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Commissioners’ Preface The Great
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2 required to monitor basin groundw
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4 Systems have a 30-year lifespan d
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6 Groundwater quality is routinely
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8 Transmittal Letter Groundwater/An
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10 Acknowledgements, Activities and
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APPENDICES Appendices A through L p
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INTRODUCTION Groundwater, a major n
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16 DESCRIPTION OF NATURAL SYSTEMS M
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that are not substantially affected
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Estimates of the Level and Extent o
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APPENDIX B Threats to Groundwater Q
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24 PATHOGENS Bacteria, viruses and
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Viruses Viral pathogens continue to
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SPECIFIC EPISODES Walkerton In 2000
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30 season. The sampling sites inclu
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32 Curriero, F.C., Patz, J.A., Rose
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Infection of a suitable host specie
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APPENDIX C Threats to Groundwater Q
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Road salt has significant toxic eff
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converted to nitrite in the human s
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Atrazine Atrazine is an extensively
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Wisconsin DNR keeps track of about
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Table 1. Chemical Contaminants in G
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isks for 23 diseases in six contigu
Page 58 and 59: Figure 1. Number* of waterborne-dis
Page 60 and 61: Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Wa
Page 62 and 63: APPENDIX D Threats to Groundwater Q
Page 64 and 65: Figure 1. Source: General Descripti
Page 66 and 67: (Gorman and Halvorsen, 2006). Any s
Page 68 and 69: Table 3. Washtenaw County, Michigan
Page 70 and 71: that the OWTS would last until it w
Page 72 and 73: REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY Aglie,
Page 74: Septic Tanks - Septic Tank Articles
Page 77 and 78: INTRODUCTION Leaking underground st
Page 79 and 80: sites that were previously closed,
Page 81 and 82: Table 1. USTs in Great Lakes States
Page 83 and 84: Estimation of Costs for Remediation
Page 85 and 86: Table 6. Operational Compliance of
Page 87 and 88: 80 Indiana Government. (2007, Febru
Page 89 and 90: 82 GLOSSARY AST - above ground stor
Page 91 and 92: INTRODUCTION 84 Hazardous wastes ar
Page 93 and 94: The town of Kincardine, Ontario, ha
Page 95 and 96: 88 • The monitoring and surveilla
Page 97 and 98: However, the U.S. EPA has been relu
Page 99 and 100: 92 Johnson, B.L. & DeRosa, C.T. (19
Page 101 and 102: PAHs - Polycyclic aromatic hydrocar
Page 103 and 104: INTRODUCTION An abandoned well is d
Page 105 and 106: Figure 6: Leaking oil well Source:
Page 107: CONTAMINANT SOURCES 100 During any
Page 111 and 112: • Development of a targeted progr
Page 113 and 114: 106 Michigan Department of Environm
Page 115 and 116: APPENDIX H Threats to Groundwater Q
Page 117 and 118: far reaching. Road salt can inhibit
Page 119 and 120: 112 Desalinization Potential water
Page 121 and 122: Gray, J. (2004, January). Brine Spr
Page 123 and 124: INTRODUCTION 116 In 2003 there were
Page 125 and 126: 118 feed has increased to upwards o
Page 127 and 128: References and Bibliography 120 Arn
Page 129 and 130: APPENDIX J Threats to Groundwater Q
Page 131 and 132: for recreational purposes and destr
Page 133 and 134: 126 errors (human or mechanical), p
Page 135 and 136: Apparent Losses Old meters are like
Page 137 and 138: Figure 6. Examples of Windsor, Onta
Page 139 and 140: REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 132 Ada
Page 141 and 142: 134 Levy, S. (2004, November 16). T
Page 143 and 144: APPENDIX K The Châteauguay Transbo
Page 145 and 146: 138 the clay sediments of the St. L
Page 147 and 148: REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY Bureau
Page 149 and 150: INTRODUCTION 142 Groundwater law ac
Page 151 and 152: 144 • Water withdrawn be returned
Page 153 and 154: 146 found to be failing. Now, with
Page 155 and 156: Part 373: Third Stage Treatment Lag
Page 157 and 158: 150 Chapter 1501:15 Soil and Water
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152 Title 29 - Water Resources Mana
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APPENDIX M List of Acronyms ADHD -
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Groundwater in the Great Lakes Basin

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