» Dayton: Contaminated sites could pose risk to well fields,
Official: Firefighting foam could threaten dozens of other wells.
Dayton has shuttered DAYTON — two Mad River well field drinking water production sites over fears of the potential for contamination from a firefighting foam contaminant that could eventually threaten dozens of additional groundwater wells, a city leader said.
The city closed five drinking water wells at the Tait Hills well field in early 2016 as a precaution because of concerns about hot spots of contamination where the foam was sprayed at the nearby Dayton firefighting training center on McFadden Avenue off Springfield Street, officials said this week.
Dayton stopped pumping drinking water at seven groundwater wells at the Huffman Dam well field last April where an early warning groundwater monitoring network showed per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) substances city officials believe were part of a contamination plume migrating from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
The two sources of separate contamination could eventually poise a threat to dozens of city groundwater wells in the Mad River well field, Dayton authorities said.
The Huffman Dam and Taits Hill well fields — more than 3 miles apart — are the “bookends” of the city’s Mad River well field system that counts more than 60 groundwater drinking wells, officials said.
“Ultimately, we absolutely have to have resolution on how to contain that contamination so that it doesn’t get into the rest of the Mad River well field and then treat it with a cleanup,” said City Manager Shelley Dickstein. “Down the road, if we did nothing the entire well field would be at risk.”
City leaders have urged the Air Force to act more quickly to prevent contamination of the Huffman well field and reimburse the city nearly $1 million in costs for testing and studies.
Wright-Patterson, which has worked with city and Ohio EPA authorities over two years on the issue, has said it’s preparing a response.
Dayton says the water it distributes to residents is safe, and it has not detected the contaminant in treated water, according to Michael Powell, city water department director.
As a safeguard, Dayton shut down the dozen production wells at the two sites to avoid drawing contamination further into the groundwater, said Deputy City Manager Tammi Clements.
A May 2017 sampling of groundwater monitoring wells at Taits Hill found at least one sample registered 1,200 parts per trillion — similar to hot spots found inside Wright-Patterson, Dayton officials said. The Environmental Protection Agency health advisory threshold for lifetime exposure in drinking water is 70 parts per trillion.
Dayton reported it discovered polyfluroalkyl substances at less than 10 parts per trillion for the first time in the raw water intake of its Ottawa water treatment facility near the Mad River last November.
City officials have gone on record saying they believe the source of contamination in that instance was Wright-Patterson. Huffman groundwater wells stand about a half mile from the base boundary.
Huffman is also north and upstream of the city’s firefighting training site, one of the reasons city officials said they know Wright-Patterson is the likely source of contamination migrating toward Huffman. A city-owned early warning system of mon-
‘Ultimately, we absolutely have to have resolution on how to contain that contamination so that it doesn’t get into the rest of the Mad River well field and then treat it with a cleanup.’
Shelley Dickstein Dayton city manager
continued from B1 itoring wells at Huffman detected at least one sample with 35 parts per trillion of the contaminant, according to the city.
“The early warning network did exactly what it was supposed to do,” Clements said. “It warns us in enough time that we can mitigate a problem before it actually reaches the (drinking) production wells.”
Dickstein outlined the two sources of contamination in a Feb. 21 letter sent to city managers.
The latest communication followed a Feb. 7 letter she sent to city managers in the region, asking them to co-sign a letter urging Wright-Patterson to reach more quickly to prevent the contamination of the Huffman well field and an aquifer three million people rely on.
The city, thus far, has had a mixed response to the plea.
Dayton has nearly 200 groundwater wells and two water treatment plants spread among three primary well fields. Along with the Mad River well field, the others include Miami and Rip Rap Road well fields near the Great Miami River.
The city has a capacity to pump nearly 200 million gallons daily, but typically pumps less than 60 million gallons a day, according to Clements.
PFAS substances are found in consumer products from clothing to cookware, but were also used in firefighting foam.
The U.S. EPA reported human epidemiology and animal testing studies indicate exposure to the contaminant suggest it may be responsible at certain levels for testicular and liver cancer; changes in cholesterol; low birth weight in newborns; liver tissue damage; and effects on the immune system and thyroid.