West Virginia Code of State Rules › Agency 61 - Agriculture › Title 61 - LEGISLATIVE RULE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE › Series 61-22 - Generic State Management Plan For Pesticides And Fertilizer In Groundwater › Section 61-22-11 - Monitoring

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 28, July 12, 2024
11.1. General. A
				key element of the management strategy is the development of an anticipatory
				monitoring system to identify existing and emerging problems and to assess the
				success of the management plan.
11.1.a. The
				West Virginia Department of Agriculture in cooperation with Division of Natural
				Resources or other appropriate state agencies will design a comprehensive
				groundwater monitoring program with an EPA reviewed Quality Assurance Quality
				Control (QA/QC) Plan. This plan specifies field sampling procedures including
				purging, collection and tagging of samples; collection of field/trip blanks;
				shipping methodology; and chain of custody procedures.
11.1.b. Monitoring will include random
				monitoring of rural and public wells as well as repeated monitoring of a
				network of observation wells. Because of past, undocumented activities near
				domestic and public wells, it is often difficult to trace sources of pesticide
				and fertilizer contamination. For example, backsiphoning accidents can result
				in chemical detections many years after the incident. The use of observation
				wells installed for the sole purpose of groundwater monitoring eliminates some
				of the interpretation uncertainties inevitable with existing wells.
11.1.c. Existing wells included in the
				network must meet the following criteria: wells should have sufficient
				construction information to evaluate the structural integrity of the well;
				surface protection such as a well house or concrete slab, must be adequate to
				prevent contaminants from entering the well via the land surface; preference
				should be given to shallow wells (50 feet in total depth), with a few
				additional wells of the same depth but upgraded for comparison; such wells must
				not be hand dug and must be accessible for investigation and sample collection,
				including physical accessibility and a water collection point prior to any
				treatment system. In addition, wells considered favorable for sampling will not
				have had pesticides or fertilizers stored, mixed, spilled, or disposed of
				within 500 feet of the wellhead. Questionable or unofficial data will be used
				to assist voluntary programs. Mandatory programs will only be initiated upon
				the obtainment of verifiable official data.
11.1.d. The monitoring well network will be
				more heavily concentrated in areas that have been identified as vulnerable to
				potential contamination. Localities considered for observation well
				installation will be those areas with either confirmed or potential groundwater
				contamination problems; areas which have had pesticides or fertilizers known to
				be more subject to leaching applied in large quantities; areas known to contain
				excessive amounts of nitrate in the soil profile and/or groundwater; those
				areas which may be sensitive to groundwater pollution due to soil types and/or
				depth to the water table; or areas where past practices may have caused
				groundwater quality problems.