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g ~ 'Z3-() S NORTH OAKS Contaminated wells worrisome Group questions city's response to vinyl chloride BY JASON HOPPIN Pioneer Press Pollution control experts recently discovered that a hand- ful of North Oaks wells are con- tamh1ated with small amounts of vinyl chloride, a carcinogen hlamed on a long-closed White Bear Township dump. But the wells are producing something else -. anxiety. And as a decision on what to do ahout the prohlem draws near, leaders in the exclusive north suhurhan community are looking for a solution that is not only scientifi- cally sound, hut also politically satisfactory. "The very last thing I'm wor- ried ahout is whether I'm going to get cancer from a glass of water coming out of my well," said Mayor Tom Watson. "It's a prohlem hecause people say it's a prohlem." Even though vinyl chioride was found in just three wells - all at or helow state safe drinking standards - it is hard to con- vince residents that their water is safe when there are trace amounts of carcinogens floating around in an aquifer. Consequently, some residents are skeptical of enviromnental consultants hired hy Whirlpool Corp. and Alcoa Inc., which used the Minnesota 96 dump and have assumed responsihility for clean- ing it up. The dlunp closed in 1973. Cause for cOl'u::el"n The likely source of contamination in wells on the east side of Gilfillan Lake (detected in the early 19905) is a former dump in White Bear Township. Recently, contamination also has been found on the west side. Three wells on the west side were" found to contain vinyl chloride. [J RAMSEY COUNTY ~;;: . n ~ VAONAIS o m 3 ~ Homes on the east side of the lake were connected to municipal water more than a decade ago. 6 c ~ m if G,\e~ .. N 114 MILE Those residents have hired a lawyer and enviromnentai con- sultants, who concluded that not enough testing was heing done to head offfuinre prohlems. "A person right now, given the data that is available,cannot pos- sihly tell whether more wells will he impacted or no more wells will he hupacted," said North Oaks resident Dan Colton, a lawyer for the group. He cailed it a "canary in the mine" approach, and said residents are prepared to go to court if they aren't satis- fied with the solution. The dlinp site took industrial solvents and other chemicals from area businesses. In the early 1990s, excessive amolilts of vinyl chioride - which doesn't occur nainrally - PiONEER PRESS were detected in wells on the east side of Giliillan Lake, and 60 homes were hooked up to White Bear Township's municipal water system. Vinyl chloride wasn't detected again until last winter, when reg- ular testing found it on the other side of the lalce. The contamh1a- tion "plume" appeared to he moving west. The three homes are heing supplied with hottled water, and all have heen offered new wells hy the compaules. Whirlpool and Alcoa consultant Conestoga- Rovers & Associates also has told state pollution experts that they will drill new monitoring wells to learn more about the prohlem. But for some, that wasn't enough. Led hy Tom VOgi, a group of residents hired consultants Barr Engineering to look at the data. Those consultants concluded that there wasn't enough testing done to head off possihle fuinre contaminations and that many more monitoring wells are needed. "Up until now, CRA has not made it a predictive process," said Fletcher Driscoll at a recent meeting. The hydrogeologist and former member of the National Drtnking Water Advisory Coun- cil is working with the group. Watson said many are over- reacting, including some real. estate agents he's spoken with. "We react emotionaily, rather than intellectually," he said. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has final sayan the site. It is weighing recommenda- tions from Conestoga-Rovers & Associates and waiting for input from the city, whlch has taken information from hath sides of the dehate. Ron Frehuer, project manag- er for Conestoga-Rovers, said, "I think as more people get edu- cated, the anxiety will drop." Colton said he helieves state enviroumental authorities failed to get a handle on the prohlem in the early 1990s, when eontamh1ation was found on the east side of the lake. "The question is, is the MPCA going to do the right thing now?" he said. Jason Hoppin can be reached at jhoppin@pioneerpress.com or 651.228-2120.