Runoff from burn locations discharges locally into on-site karst sinkholes which recharge an aquifer that is used elsewhere for drinking water. Sampling in and adjacent to burn locations has shown soils there contain substantively elevated levels of metals including aluminum, arsenic, antimony, cadmium, copper, lead, and silver. Samples of soil taken from a path, or road, connecting the burn plots also were found to contain elevated levels of metals. EPA had intended to sample food crops in 1994, but found that the areas of interest were not being used for farming. The site vicinity is rural and characterized by rugged, hilly, heavily-vegetated terrain with small farms located in the valleys.
Population is sparse within one mile of the site.
It has been estimated that fewer than 100 people reside within mile of the site boundary, and there are no residences close to the burn plots. Residential properties should not have been affected by either contaminated runoff or by windblown dust because surface runoff from the burn locations discharges into on-site sinkholes, and the burn plots are surrounded by very dense vegetation. Surface runoff from burn locations is likely to have transported contaminants into the sinkholes and might have contaminated the underlying aquifer. EPA conducted a survey of the nearby residents in November 1994 and found all are connected to the public water supply. The nearest public well is 0.7 miles east-northeast of the site in the apparent direction of groundwater flow.