EPA says water is safe, will continue to monitor site of contamination
TEXAS TOWNSHIP, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - Months after hundreds of toxic barrels were found in Texas Township, many are still searching for closure.
In the summer of 2008 investigators found about 500 barrels behind a home on O Avenue. Crews cleaned up the site, but say toxic and radioactive materials leaked into the ground. Since then, tests have shown no chemicals in the well water of nearby homes.
On Thursday night, concerned residents attended a meeting at KVCC, where the EPA was expected to explain more about the safety of the site.
Approximately 50 people showed up, some of them quite angry. Authorities say the well water is safe, however there is other contamination in the area that the EPA is still concerned about.
Unfortunately, it's not all good news. Levels of mercury, arsenic, and cyanide are above the levels of ground water protection criteria. The EPA and the DEQ agree that it appears the chemicals are remaining stationary in the groundwater on the Haugen property, where the barrels were discovered, but to be sure that those chemicals are not moving, several wells will be put in place and monitored every six months for the next two years.
Authorities will also be removing a large area of top soil, about 11,000 square feet worth, to a level of two to four feet deep.
The EPA has already spent $1.3 million in cleaning up the site, which doesn't include the funds that the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has spent. Estimates for the remainder of the clean-up efforts are around $120,000.
If the EPA is wrong, and the contamination continues to move, it is estimated that it would cost more than a million dollars to actually clean the ground water.
Bill Saunders, a farmer who has property adjacent to the Haugen property seemed pleased with the meeting.
"You can't help but have lingering concerns, but I think most of the questions were answered and answered well," said Saunders.
Many at the meeting wondered if justice would ever be brought to property owner Donald Haugen.
"I think that if it doesn't, then I think the whole neighborhood is going to have a posse out," said Texas Township Supervisor Dave Healy. "One of the first questions is safety, are the residents going to have drinking water and so forth, and the next question is when is he going to jail, or worse."
County health officials tell residents to keep an eye on their water, and to notify the health department if it changes in color, taste, or odor.
