Metals showing up in township water tests

MANTON — The sauna sits just feet from a rolling, tree-covered hill. For years, the Dextrom family used it often, pouring water from the family well over the rocks to create steam.

Saunas are considered therapeutic and relaxing. But when Dextrom learned his well contained groundwater contamination from the Wexford County Landfill, he ceased using it.

Now, Dextrom’s water goes through a water filter. He only uses his well water for showering and watering the grass. His drinking water — including the water he uses to make coffee — comes from bottles provided by Wexford County.

Well testing is now showing a decline in volatile organic compounds, said John Divozzo, Wexford County’s director of Public Works. The decreases are minimal and may not be visible to the eye but when well tests are charted over time, it’s evident, he said. Any homeowner with detected contamination, even if it’s below minimum levels, is being provided bottled water.

“There are no residential wells above (minimum contaminant levels),” Divozzo said.

Even while groundwater contaminants appear on a downward trend, Dextrom and other residents worry about levels of heavy metals in their water supply.

The metals may be naturally occurring in the area but the presence of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, can cause them to become active, Divozzo said.

“My assumption — and this is an honest assumption — the way it looks, all the iron is climbing and when the iron is climbing the VOCs aren’t far behind,” Dextrom said.

While Divozzo agrees metals become active with the presence of VOCs, he said the VOCs are ahead of the metals. He also said well tests are showing a decline in iron and manganese.

“There’s no way the metals are getting ahead of the VOCs,” he said.

The west plume, Divozzo said, does contain a metals plume. When the VOCs breakdown, it causes metals to become part of a liquid solution. As it moves away from the landfill, Divozzo said the metals leave the solution and are no longer detected in sampling.

Metal levels above the aesthetic level have been detected in wells at the landfill site and some residential wells, he said. One residential deep well on U.S. 131 sampled 2,930 parts per billion of iron. That home does not have VOCs but the homeowner has been put on bottled water, Divozzo said.

The aesthetic value is 300 parts per billion. Once water eclipses 300 parts per billion, it can affect taste, color or cause rust.

“We’ve had some very strange results on a few parcels,” he said. “It’s not like iron is increasing over the whole plume. There are no VOCs associated with (the 2,930 well). From my perspective, it’s unexplainable.”

At the same time, though, Divozzo said there are wells in the area that are not located in the plume that have high metal levels and some older wells that haven’t been conditioned that have high levels.

In the end, Divozzo said the construction of a public water system in Cedar Creek Township will remedy the situation.

Your Local Connection

Some residential and monitoring wells in Cedar Creek Township have seen higher levels of heavy metals.

The explanation is known as the metals halo.

The metals halo occurs when volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, are present in the groundwater. The VOCs cause the metals to become part of a liquid solution, which can then be drawn into a well.

When the VOCs leave an area, the metals often will leave the liquid solution.

mwhetstone@cadillacnews.com | 775-NEWS (6397)