During Tuesday’s town council meeting Town Utilities Manager Bob Sipes aired concerns over the pilot test report received from the consulting firm hired by UM Shore Regional Health to eliminate residual oil from a 27-year old heating oil leak in the ground near the hospital.
If the residual oil is not removed or contained it could threaten contaminating the town’s water supply.
“It appears to be a lot of smoke and mirrors,” Sipes said.
Regarding a claim that the report showed an 18,000% improvement in oil removal, Sipes remarked that it appeared that the firm had cherry-picked their stats to arrive at that number. “In all the pilot tests, when they were withdrawing and testing for hydrocarbons ,they took their best sample over that one week period,” he said.
The pilot test injected the non-toxic chemical, Ivy-Sol, into the monitoring and recovery wells near the hospital. The tests, taken over a week in October resulted in a 1200 page report now being studied by the town’s geologist and attorney, Sipes, Town Manager Bill Ingersoll and also the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE). The MDE will decide whether the tests meet state standards before any full remediation process can be undertaken.
Uphill from the town’s drinking water, the 27-year old heating oil spill has been an ongoing concern for both UM Shore Regional Health and the town. Since 1991 the spread of oil contamination has been regulated by remediation wells costing the hospital $50,000 per year to run. After turning those wells off in 2012, monitoring wells detected oil between the hospital and the town’s shallow water wells.
Estimates on how much oil remains underground vary between 20,000 and 63,000 gallons. No contaminants have reached the town water supply.
Sipes would like the remediation goal to be clear and inclusive. If the monitoring and remediation wells are used to inject the Ivy-Sol, its possible, he says, that the future readings will appear clear when in fact the whole site has not been treated and could remain contaminated with no further recourse if the remediation process is ended.
The town is seeking a total site remedy,not just areas near the monitoring and recovery wells.
Patti Willis says
The pilot study, which was shaped and approved by the scientists and experts at Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), is in the hands of MDE for scientific evaluation. It seems prudent to wait for conclusions from these scientists and experts. MDE has agreed to hold a public meeting in Chestertown to discuss its review of the study and the next steps they recommend, as soon as their review is complete.
Norton, Richard V. says
Before any public meetings, and too many opinions, I personally would like to be able to download the full report from MDE.
Words do not create ‘facts’ and numbers to not capture knowledge.
Let us start with an open mind that useful data was obtained, for the evaluation of a remediation solution. 1200 pages should yield some valid statistics, even if only the best blueberries were handpicked. Reminds me of my work on remediation of the waste plume at the Nike Site in Tolchester quite a few years back.
I wonder if those phytoremediation trees we planted with the boy scouts of Rock Hall have grown sufficiently to now demonstrate a statistically valid reduction of the toxic plume heading into the bay. re: Phytoremediation by trees, Aberdeen Proving Ground reports and much other literature.
Since I am not hired by anyone, I offer a retired scientists independent evaluation. This could be a great collective endeavor for we curious, meddling, retirees with skills other than for retirement trips.
Patti Willis says
A rational and reasoned approach, Mr. Norton.
David Foster says
Congratulations to the Spy for helping to raise public awareness on this critical issue affecting both the public health and public welfare of our town. While Ms. Willis is right that we should wait til Maryland Department of the Environment has had the opportunity to review the results on this study before forming a final opinion, there is a good deal of expertise right here in Chestertown and an educated consumer, like an educated voter, is the best way to assure that our resources will be protected.
For the same reason it is also important that the Mayor and Council of Chestertown provide reasonable advance notice of all public meetings where this issue will be discussed as well as links to relevant websites where further information may be obtained.
Patti Willis says
Thank you, Mr. Foster. We have been informed that the report is available on both the Town and the MDE websites and for exactly the reason you state: so that the public can read and analyze the information there. There is truly a great deal of expertise among many of the citizens of Chestertown to interpret and form solid questions around the report and the data. MDE will alert the Town of possible meeting dates and I am sure Mayor Cerino and his staff will give notice as soon as a date is known. Everyone benefits from this transparency.