Approximately 14,400 people obtain drinking water from public and private wells located within three miles of the Site. The city's six municipal wells also are located within three miles of the Site. The distance from the nearest residential well to the Site is 50 feet. Metal contaminates were also detected in the leachate including cadmium, arsenic, mercury and cobalt. Leachate migrating from the Site is causing the groundwater to become contaminated and is also contaminating surface water and the wetlands near the Site.
Surface water is contaminated with heavy metals.
Trespassers could be directly exposed to site-related contaminants which pose an unacceptable health risk. They agreed to conduct an investigation into the nature and extent of site contamination and the most effective methods to clean up the site in 1989. During the PDI, the vinyl chloride plume was further defined, and additional information was developed that assisted the U.S. EPA in guiding the final actions at the Site. Due to unforeseen contractual delays, completion of the entire capping project was not completed during the 1999 construction season. Therefore, in order to avoid 're-work' of partially completed areas due to erosion damage over the winter season, the Group proposed to split the construction into two phases.