Groundwater in the Great Lakes Basin

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APPENDIX E Threats to Groundwater Quality in the Great Lakes Basin — Leaking Underground Storage Tanks CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 70 NUMBER OF UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANKS 70 CONTAMINATION DANGERS 71 METHYL TERT-BUTYL ETHER 71 ETHANOL 72 UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANKS IN THE GREAT LAKES BASIN 73 ABOVEGROUND STORAGE TANKS 74 FUNDING 75 CLEANUP COSTS 75 REGULATIONS 76 REMEDIATION AND PREVENTION 78 REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 79 GLOSSARY 82 69
INTRODUCTION Leaking underground storage tanks (LUSTs) are a serious concern regarding groundwater quality, and also of Great Lakes water quality in the Basin (Figure 1). The Great Lakes receive recharge not only via surface water runoff and precipitation but also through regional groundwater flow. If this groundwater is contaminated by LUSTs, significant amounts of pollution will be discharged into the Great Lakes. Although an accurate tally of total USTs in the U.S. and Canada is currently unknown, since not all underground tanks are mandated to be registered and many older tanks were installed before registrations came into effect, estimates place this number, for both countries combined, in the millions (CESD, 2002; Sierra Club, 2005). NUMBER OF UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANKS 70 USTs frequently contain potentially dangerous and toxic substances including, but not limited to, oil, gasoline, diesel fuel, aviation fuel, other petroleum products, radionuclides, solvents and waste/spent fluids (Sierra Club, 2005). These stored materials often contain carcinogenic compounds (e.g., benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene or BTEX). Many USTs are known to be currently leaking or have leaked at some point in their past (Figure 2). A pinhole leak can release 400 gallons (1,514 litres) in a year, having the potential to contaminate vast quantities of groundwater with a contamination ratio of one to one million (Environment Canada, 1999; Sierra Club, 2005). LUST and refinery spills like that at Exxon Mobil’s property in Brooklyn, New York, with a volume of 17 to 30 million gallons (77-136 million litres) (Leising, 2007), result in extensive groundwater contamination, and adjacent surface waters are also adversely affected. Hazards arising from LUSTs include acute and chronic drinking water health issues as well as the accumulation of volatile and flammable gases, which have resulted in spectacular and often fatal sewer and basement explosions (e.g., St. John, New Brunswick, and Guadalajara, Mexico). In Utah a leak from a local gas station released 20,000 gallons of gasoline. Fumes from the gasoline caused significant damage to local homes and businesses (Fahys, 2008). In the United States, as of March 2008, 478,457 releases had been confirmed from the more than 2,302,287 registered USTs, both active and closed, which are subject to federal regulations (U.S. EPA, 2008a; U.S. EPA, 2007c). Other sources indicate that this figure, however, may be more than 551,000 (Environmental Data Resources Inc., 2008). Figure 1. Figure 2. Leaking underground storage tanks. Source: U.S. EPA & USGS. Exhumed leaking underground storage tanks. Photo by: D.W. Alley
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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
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
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 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 and 108: CONTAMINANT SOURCES 100 During any
Page 109 and 110: Nearly 16 million operational water
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
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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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