Groundwater in the Great Lakes Basin

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contaminants. Due to funding constraints, surveys are only run every two to three years at 30 to 35 sites and then only for three weeks at each site. A large number of chemical sources remain along the Niagara River. As part of the Niagara River Toxics Management Plan, upstream and downstream monitoring is conducted to calculate a mass balance for the river. Monitoring is complicated by sediment movement and volatilization of substances as they flow over Niagara Falls. However, contaminant levels appear to be declining in Lake Erie, but contributions from groundwater discharges in the Niagara region do not appear to be decreasing. Also as part of the Plan, annual reporting on the loading of 18 priority toxic chemicals has been underway since 1998. Toxic loads were reduced by 93% from 1989 levels for 19 sites with remedial costs to date of $406 million. Estimates of future costs are $270 million. However, the quality of the original baseline study is uncertain, subsequent studies were limited or highly debated and some findings were never released. Further, calculations are based not on actual measurements but on actions taken. In addition, many significantly contaminated sites in the area are not being addressed. The objective at these sites is not remediation but containment to prevent loadings to the river. Since there is no available remediation technology, 26 Superfund sites near Niagara Falls, New York, will undergo “pump and treat” groundwater “intervention” in perpetuity. Abandoned Wells Abandoned wells in the Great Lakes Basin range from small-diameter geotechnical test holes to intercontinental ballistic missile silos (see Appendix G). The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality estimates that there are two million abandoned wells in the state, and Ontario has about 500,000 abandoned oil and gas wells. Also, it is believed that there are thousands of 19th century abandoned wells in northwest and north central Ohio, within the Great Lakes Basin. In the late 1800s, exploratory oil drilling in northwest Ohio was rampant and uncontrolled. In some areas there was a drill hole every 100 metres, and few of them were plugged or abandoned properly. The potential for cross-contamination of aquifers and brine units in these areas is therefore very high, possibly affecting the water quality and conductance of surface streams. The lack of an inventory of wells and of mandatory reporting is problematic. Through financial support of initiatives by local governments to plug abandoned wells, several jurisdictions have made significant progress to eliminate pathways for aquifer contamination as well as public safety hazards. Wisconsin’s program has been especially aggressive and successful. Michigan has improved program implementation through the application of geographic information systems for well identification. The U.S. EPA has authorized states to use “set-aside” funds for this purpose. Ontario jurisdictions offer various subsidies to decommission wells (up to 100%), improve wells and improve septic systems (up to $7,500). Ontario and Wisconsin are leaders in addressing potential environmental impacts, for example, on trout streams, from groundwater withdrawals. Other Groundwater Quality Issues The Appendices also address the following other groundwater quality concerns: de-icing compounds (Appendix H), confined animal feeding operations (Appendix I), conveyance losses from municipal infrastructure (Appendix J) and the Chateauguay Transboundary Aquifer (Appendix K). 4. Regulatory Issues and Groundwater Protection Initiatives Appendix L addresses a number of regulatory issues relevant to groundwater quantity and quality. Regarding groundwater quantity, there is significant potential for conflicts between users, both locally and regionally. This is due to land use change from urbanization, climate change and increasing groundwater withdrawals in specific locations, for example, for water bottling, residential or agricultural use, or quarry dewatering. Groundwater withdrawals are regulated at the state and provincial level, but there is significant variation across the basin in how this is done. In half the jurisdictions, most withdrawals are not currently regulated. The state and provincial compact and agreement will require every jurisdiction to manage water withdrawals, including withdrawals of groundwater, in accordance with a minimum basinwide standard, to ban diversions, to institute water conservation measures and to improve monitoring and data collection. 5
6 Groundwater quality is routinely monitored and regulated in all basin jurisdictions only when it is a public drinking water source. The U.S. EPA has promulgated the National Primary Drinking Water Regulation – The Ground Water Rule – to provide for increased protection against microbial pathogens in public water systems using groundwater sources. Full compliance is required by December 1, 2009. This rule establishes a risk-based approach to target drinking water systems that are susceptible to fecal contamination. Because of the findings discussed above about viruses, it is unclear whether the rule will fully protect human health. Many sources of groundwater contamination are regulated, but there is significant variation among basin jurisdictions. The most urgent gaps in most jurisdictions are the failure to require septic system inspection and maintenance and the failure to ensure the proper decommissioning of abandoned wells. “Point-of-sale” on-site wastewater system inspections are essential to any comprehensive management program, and they offer a key opportunity to inventory OSS locations. “Point-of-sale” on-site regulations are controversial. Mandatory inspection regulations provide only a snapshot of the system’s condition on the date of inspection, and there is a continued shortage of qualified inspectors. Regulations have been embraced in Wisconsin but have been aggressively opposed in Michigan by Realtor associations, home and cottage owners and under-funded county health officials. The Ohio Department of Environmental Quality implemented an inspection program in 2003, but some jurisdictions in the state found that the hefty cost of replacing a failed septic system causes some residents to abandon their property, which is then repossessed by the lender and may sit vacant for long periods of time. Door County, Wisconsin, on the peninsula separating Green Bay from Lake Michigan, has 14,000 septic tank systems and about 3,500 holding tanks. Recognizing the human health hazard posed by faulty septic systems and to protect groundwater, Door County enacted an ordinance requiring inspection of the wastewater system before sale of a property could be completed. The inspection requirement initially detected a high proportion of failing systems, and replacement was almost always required. County Realtors originally opposed the ordinance but now regard it as very effective. In 2004 the county expanded the program to include full inspection of all systems, which is expected to be completed in five years. Any system that fails must be replaced by the landowner. After inspection, whether the system has passed or been replaced, the landowner must follow the county’s required maintenance schedule and keep records of the maintenance operations performed on the system. Recommended Actions The following recommended government actions are necessary to better characterize and understand groundwater, control known contamination sources, and restore and protect groundwater quality and quantity in the Great Lakes Basin. These recommended actions should be read in conjunction with recommendations previously made to the Commission in the Science Advisory Board’s letter of July 31, 2006, regarding amendments to Annex 16 of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement that would recognize the importance of groundwater as a critical component of the overall aquatic ecosystem in the Great Lakes Basin, standardize mapping and monitoring and ensure regular reporting. Research: 1. Federal, state and provincial governments should continue and expand research to provide a comprehensive basin-wide understanding of: hydrogeological conditions, groundwater discharge and recharge rates, the role of groundwater in ecosystem functioning and the effects of human-induced changes, including urbanization, climate change and tile drainage, on groundwater. 2. Provincial and state governments should support research to determine in the Great Lakes Basin: the nature and extent of pathogens, antibiotic resistant organisms and emerging chemicals in groundwater; the relative contributions of human and animal wastes to the outbreak of disease; and the extent of leaks from sanitary sewers. Governments also should ensure that research into other groundwater contaminants of concern is adequately supported. A comprehensive survey of underground storage tanks in Canada is needed.
Page 1 and 2: AReportoftheGreatLakesScienceAdviso
Page 3 and 4: Citation: Great Lakes Science Advis
Page 6: Commissioners’ Preface The Great
Page 9 and 10: 2 required to monitor basin groundw
Page 11: 4 Systems have a 30-year lifespan d
Page 15 and 16: 8 Transmittal Letter Groundwater/An
Page 17 and 18: 10 Acknowledgements, Activities and
Page 19 and 20: APPENDICES Appendices A through L p
Page 21 and 22: INTRODUCTION Groundwater, a major n
Page 23 and 24: 16 DESCRIPTION OF NATURAL SYSTEMS M
Page 25 and 26: that are not substantially affected
Page 27 and 28: Estimates of the Level and Extent o
Page 29 and 30: APPENDIX B Threats to Groundwater Q
Page 31 and 32: 24 PATHOGENS Bacteria, viruses and
Page 33 and 34: Viruses Viral pathogens continue to
Page 35 and 36: SPECIFIC EPISODES Walkerton In 2000
Page 37 and 38: 30 season. The sampling sites inclu
Page 39 and 40: 32 Curriero, F.C., Patz, J.A., Rose
Page 41 and 42: Infection of a suitable host specie
Page 44 and 45: APPENDIX C Threats to Groundwater Q
Page 46 and 47: Road salt has significant toxic eff
Page 48 and 49: converted to nitrite in the human s
Page 50 and 51: Atrazine Atrazine is an extensively
Page 52 and 53: Wisconsin DNR keeps track of about
Page 54 and 55: Table 1. Chemical Contaminants in G
Page 56 and 57: 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
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APPENDIX D Threats to Groundwater Q
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Figure 1. Source: General Descripti
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(Gorman and Halvorsen, 2006). Any s
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Table 3. Washtenaw County, Michigan
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that the OWTS would last until it w
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REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY Aglie,
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Septic Tanks - Septic Tank Articles
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INTRODUCTION Leaking underground st
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sites that were previously closed,
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Table 1. USTs in Great Lakes States
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Estimation of Costs for Remediation
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Table 6. Operational Compliance of
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80 Indiana Government. (2007, Febru
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82 GLOSSARY AST - above ground stor
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INTRODUCTION 84 Hazardous wastes ar
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The town of Kincardine, Ontario, ha
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88 • The monitoring and surveilla
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However, the U.S. EPA has been relu
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92 Johnson, B.L. & DeRosa, C.T. (19
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PAHs - Polycyclic aromatic hydrocar
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INTRODUCTION An abandoned well is d
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Figure 6: Leaking oil well Source:
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CONTAMINANT SOURCES 100 During any
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Nearly 16 million operational water
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• Development of a targeted progr
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106 Michigan Department of Environm
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APPENDIX H Threats to Groundwater Q
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far reaching. Road salt can inhibit
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112 Desalinization Potential water
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Gray, J. (2004, January). Brine Spr
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INTRODUCTION 116 In 2003 there were
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118 feed has increased to upwards o
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References and Bibliography 120 Arn
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APPENDIX J Threats to Groundwater Q
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for recreational purposes and destr
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126 errors (human or mechanical), p
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Apparent Losses Old meters are like
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Figure 6. Examples of Windsor, Onta
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REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 132 Ada
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134 Levy, S. (2004, November 16). T
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APPENDIX K The Châteauguay Transbo
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138 the clay sediments of the St. L
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REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY Bureau
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INTRODUCTION 142 Groundwater law ac
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144 • Water withdrawn be returned
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146 found to be failing. Now, with
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Part 373: Third Stage Treatment Lag
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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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