Groundwater in the Great Lakes Basin

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100 companies are connected to more than 40% of America’s most dangerous contaminated waste sites (Center for Public Integrity, 2007b). However, companies undergo corporate maneuvering in order to blur and avoid financial responsibility (Sapien and Knott, 2007). If a polluter cannot be associated with the site, if polluters refuse to undertake cleanup actions or where polluters do not have financial resources to conduct a cleanup, a trust fund, supplied mainly by an industry tax, ensured that U.S. EPA could clean up the site (Sierra Club, 2004). However, that tax measure expired in 1995 and was not reinstated. When the tax expired, only 18% of Superfund’s funding came from taxpayers. In 2004 Superfund’s trust fund was bankrupt and now 100% of the bill is footed by taxpayers (Sierra Club, 2004). Furthermore the Superfund program has been underfunded by 1.6 to 2.6 billion dollars from 2001 to 2004 (Table 1). As a result of insufficient funds, the U.S. EPA’s cleanup of Superfund sites decreased by 50% from 87 sites in 1997-2000 to 43 sites in 2001-2003 (Sierra Club, 2004). With insufficient funding hundreds of sites remain uncontrolled (Table 2). In 2007 there were 224 sites on the National Priorities List where contaminated groundwater was not under control and 114 Superfund sites with no control over human exposure to possible carcinogenic substances (Shaw, 2007). According to 2000 U.S. Census data there are more than 25 million people living within 10 miles of these 114 Superfund sites. Table 1. Under-Funding of Superfund Program, 2001-2004 Year Superfund Budget Low-end Estimate of Superfund Program Needs Difference between Superfund Budget and Low-end Estimate High-end Estimate of Superfund Program Needs Difference between Superfund Budget and High-end Estimate 2001 $1,336,000,000 $1,632,000,000 -$296,000,000 $1,740,000,000 -$404,000,000 2002 $1,340,000,000 $1,759,000,000 -$419,000,000 $1,988,000,000 -$648,000,000 2003 $1,265,000,000 $1,760,000,000 -$495,000,000 $2,130,000,000 -$865,000,000 2004 $1,257,000,000 $1,605,000,000 -$348,000,000 $1,921,000,000 -$664,000,000 Total Underfunding -$1,558,000,000 -$2,581,000,000 Source: Sierra Club, 2004 Table 2. Superfund Sites Not Under Control. State Superfund Sites Sites With Contaminated Groundwater Mitigation Not Under Control Sites With Human Exposure Not Under Control Pennsylvania 122 23 7 New York 110 9 7 Michigan 84 11 2 Illinois 51 6 4 Minnesota 46 1 4 Wisconsin 44 1 3 Ohio 44 3 0 Indiana 39 6 6 Total 540 60 30 Source: Center for Public Integrity, 2007c. 89
However, the U.S. EPA has been reluctant to release information including a cleanup timeline, funding needed and whether they are investigating an additional 181 sites that may pose health risks (Sapien, 2007a). The Forest Waste Products site located in Otisville, Michigan, is currently an active Superfund site. With 36 identified contaminants, of which at least one is ranked within the top five most hazardous chemicals, contaminated groundwater migrating from the site is currently not under control (Center for Public Integrity, 2007a). Bound Brook in New Jersey runs alongside the Cornell Dubilier Electronics Superfund Site. The U.S. EPA has declared that the brook is safe for recreational use; however, electrical capacitors leaking PCBs have been discovered along the banks (Sapien, 2007b). The U.S. EPA did not undertake any soil or water sampling tests after the capacitors were found nor did they warn the community that more contaminants had been discovered (Sapien, 2007b). However, Superfund sites likely contain only a small portion of contamination with thousands of old commercial and industrial sites leaching contaminants into the surrounding ground and surface water supplies (Shaw, 2007). A proposed bill for limiting the siting of hazardous waste facilities in New York was vetoed by Governor Spitzer. The proposed legislation would have prohibited the siting of a hazardous waste landfill in an area with potential to discharge into the Great Lakes system. The bill,also would have curtailed the planned expansion of CWM Chemical Services in Porter, the state’s only active hazardous waste landfill (Besecker, 2007). Hazardous Waste Injection Wells In March 2004 the U.S. government gave the go ahead for the production of two 4,500-foot wells in Romulus, Michigan, licensed to accept 460,000 gallons of toxins a day (“Where did,” 2006; Warikoo, 2004). In October 2006, less than a year after the site was opened, the site was shut down by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality when they discovered that one of the wells was leaking, the other giving off an acidic gas and the company responsible was not to be found (“Where did,” 2006; Warikoo 2004). Against much skepticism the wells were sold to Environmental Geo- Technologies, an investment company (“Greektown mogul,” 2007). BASINWIDE REMEDIATION AND PREVENTION Remediation of groundwater emanating from hazardous waste sites is a complex undertaking that may prove to be neither technically nor financially feasible. The U.S. EPA estimated that remediation of each hazardous site carries an average price tag of $US 27 million (Elder, Proctor and Hites, 1981). Therefore, the estimated cost to remediate the 4,500 known sites in the basin will require $US 112.5 billion and several decades of effort. The virtual elimination strategy of the Parties to the Agreement will continue to be compromised or confounded. Proper monitoring systems need to be in place in order to accurately keep track of hazardous waste produced and its storage. Ontario needs to put serious effort into improving its hazardous waste tracking system. The system is deficient, leaving the government without accurate figures of how much hazardous waste is moving around the province. It is estimated that $100 million would be needed over the next 10 years to implement a proper monitoring system (Mittelstaedt, 2008). The most effective method to help reduce the effects of hazardous waste sites is to minimize the amount of hazardous waste produced. Treatments including chemical, physical, biological and thermal can be utilized to reduce volume and render wastes less toxic (Government of Canada, 2002). Also many industries and individuals have begun implementing the “four-R’s” – reduce, recover, reuse recycle. Educational programs need to be implemented to help reduce hazardous waste produced. Canadians improperly dispose of 27,000 tonnes of household hazardous wastes each year (“Hazardous waste,” 2006). The process of reducing hazardous wastes can be achieved simply if industries implement more efficient manufacturing processes, use alternative compounds and use or reprocess waste (Government of Canada, 2002). 90
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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
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 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: 88 • The monitoring and surveilla
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
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
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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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