EPA responds to county letter on lead levels

Oh...corrosion and old plumbing cause elevated lead levels in water even when uranium mining is closeby. Epic fail, EPA.

The Environmental Protection Agency offered guidelines for water well management in response to a Pittsylvania County inquiry into elevated lead levels near where a uranium company conducted exploratory drilling.

County Administrator William Sleeper said he sent a letter to the EPA back in April to ask what could be done about lead levels in wells and its role in regulation. The agency responded on Oct. 26.

The Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors asked both the EPA and the Virginia Department of Health to investigate lead levels after Sheva resident Allen Gross said that a well water sample showed more than the maximum safe level of lead in drinking water, according to past Danville Register & Bee reports. Testing showed a rise in lead levels compared to past samples. Gross lives about a mile from Coles Hill, where Virginia Uranium Inc. conducted exploratory drilling.

The state health department tested the well water in the area, and found safe lead levels. The department determined the source of the lead is not the source water, according to past reports.

The EPA does not regulate domestic water wells, but offers guidance on management:

• The agency recommends all private well owners have their well tested once a year for coliform bacteria, nitrates and other contaminants.

• Naturally occurring radioactivity can be treated with reverse osmosis.

• Lead is rarely found in source water, but enters tap water through corrosion of plumbing materials. The most common problem is with brass or chrome-plated faucets and fixtures that can leach lead into the water.

http://www2.godanriver.com/gdr/news/local/danville_news/article/epa_responds_to_county_letter_on_lead_levels/15193/

Official: Lead levels in water not linked to uranium drilling

By John Crane

Published: July 7, 2009

A Sheva man saw the lead level in his home well water supply surge when Virginia Uranium Inc. performed exploratory drilling last year.

Since those holes were sealed, the lead content in Allen Gross’s well water has dropped below unsafe levels.

But an official with the Virginia Department of Health — which took the latest water samples on Gross’s property last month — says any lead issues he had reflect a problem in his plumbing system.

“Our interpretation is the source of the lead is not the source water,” said Dr. Charles Devine, health director for the state health department’s Pittsylvania-Danville Health District.

Gross, who lives in Sheva about a mile from Coles Hill, said his plumbing consists of a three-year-old plastic system and is not the source of the problem. Gross said water tests conducted in Goliad County, Texas, where uranium exploration was being performed, showed similar results.

VUI, which seeks to mine and mill a 119-million-pound uranium deposit at Coles Hill about six miles northeast of Chatham, contracted privately for test and analysis of water samples at Gross’s home and on other properties from December 2007 to September 2008.

Before exploratory drilling began, the first test showed a lead measurement of 2.83 parts per billion. But the last sample taken in September showed a level of 17.9 parts per billion.

Devine said the sampling technique can influence test results. The first sample on Dec. 21, 2007, was taken at Gross’s property after the system was flushed of contaminants, resulting in lower levels, while later samples showing higher lead were taken “pre-flush,” Devine said. In addition, no water tests for contaminants were conducted at Gross’s property before December 2007.

The state health department took its latest two samples on June 24 after the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors asked the agency and the Department of Environmental Quality to look into elevated lead levels in home wells near Coles Hill.

The first test of Gross’s water, taken before it was flushed of contaminants, showed a level of .008 milli-grams per liter of water. The second sample, taken post-flush, found lead below detectable limits, Devine said. A measurement of .015 milligrams per liter or above is considered “action-level,” meaning that if 10 percent or more of tap-water samples exceed that amount, then public water systems must take additional steps to lower the contaminant level, Devine said.

Devine said Gross’s home was the only one sampled by the state last month because it was the only property that reported increased lead levels.

Patrick Wales, VUI geologist and spokesman, said the health department’s latest findings show that there is no connection between VUI’s activities and Gross’s lead levels. Gross’s property is located across two topographical features “precluding water flow in his direction,” Wales said.

Gross said he and his wife, Deborah, did not consume their tap water from December 2008 until last month, when they found out lead levels has decreased.

http://www.godanriver.com/gdr/news/local/danville_news/article/official_lead_levels_in_water_not_linked_to_uranium_drilling/12322/

What Happens When Oxygen and Carbonate Ions Meet Uranium?

Well, see for yourself!

Our friend Mark Krueger lives near Goliad, TX. Recently we've published on this blog some of Mark's remarks and questions submitted in response to various Victoria Advocate articles that have addressed serious well-water contamination in and around the Goliad site. Sound familiar? Like Coles Hill, the Goliad site currently is not being mined actively but there has been extensive exploratory drilling. However, unlike Coles Hill, for which open-pit mining is being considered, the Goliad site would utilize "in-situ" mining. Still, at this stage of the process in both places, exploratory core samples have been taken...holes have been drilled deep into the ground.

When posing question after question regarding the source(s) of their well contamination, and hearing explanations which must be "industry standard talking points" like "water can't flow uphill", "it can't be our fault" and others just as hollow, Mark decided to try to duplicate, as closely as possible (albeit on a much smaller scale), the process utilized in "in situ" mining (and other mining processes) in which a "benign lixiviant" ("a harmless, eco-friendly liquid medium", according to the mining industry) is injected into the bore holes (and the aquifers) to force the ore to separate from the desired metal so that the metal can be recovered. Mark sought advice for performing his experiment from Dr. Richard Abitz, a nationally known geo-chemist and environmental scientist whose resume` can be found here , in order to make it as realistic as possible. The result is nothing less than stunning.

Using swimming pool chemicals - industrial grade hydrogen peroxide and soda ash (similar to baking soda) - and "Goliad sand"...normal sand taken from a well several hundred yards from where many "bore holes" are located...Mark demonstrates what happens when oxygen meets uranium and its underground friends such as radon gas, lead, arsenic, molybdenum, selenium and many other elements. Although uranium and other things do exist underground naturally, they have been without oxygen for a long time so they are at rest. In the presence of oxygen, however, these things become mobile, so they can travel with water. Mark asks, "Will this stuff travel outside the mining zone? They say it won't. It has happened before. It's called an 'excursion'. " Excursion? Talk about an industry misnomer..."excursion" sounds like an afternoon spent rolling down the river on an old-fashioned paddle-wheeler riverboat.

You'll need to watch both videos to get the full impact...Part 1 sets up the experiment while Part 2 is the "show"...or should I say "show-stopper"?

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YW4ZTgIApGY

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G3j-mvSW00

Thanks, Mark, for sharing your information with us and for all of your hard work in Texas!

Lead Levels Near Uranium Site May Be Examined

Published: April 15, 2009

BY JOHN R. CRANE

Register & Bee

A Pittsylvania County supervisor hopes state and federal agencies will look into elevated lead levels at home wells near Coles Hill, where Virginia Uranium Inc. has done exploratory drilling in hopes of one day mining uranium.

Chatham-Blairs Supervisor Hank Davis has proposed a resolution for the Board of Supervisors that would ask the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Virginia Department of Health to investigate higher amounts of lead in home wells in the Sheva area near Coles Hill.

The board will consider the idea at its next regular meeting, April 21 in Chatham.

However, Walter Coles Sr., chairman of Virginia Uranium Inc., which is seeking to mine and mill a uranium deposit at Coles Hill, said exploratory drilling there is not the cause of rising levels.

“We don’t have anything to do with it,” Coles said.

Higher lead levels are upstream of VUI’s operations at Coles Hill, he said.

Uranium mining is banned in Virginia by a 1982 moratorium. The Virginia Coal and Energy Commission’s Uranium Mining Subcommittee is overseeing a study to determine whether mining and milling of uranium can be done safely in the commonwealth.

In late 2007 and 2008, VUI took water samples from about 150 sites at more than 80 residences in a radius of approximately a mile around Coles Hill. Patrick Wales, VUI geologist, told the Danville Register & Bee in March that lead levels in water wary widely through the region.

Davis said he is responding to constituents’ concerns and wants to find out the source of the elevated lead.

“It doesn’t matter whether it’s caused by the uranium,” Davis said. “What’s important is finding what’s causing it and getting those people help.”

At least one resident, Allen Gross, who lives in Sheva about a mile from Coles Hill, said in March that VUI contracted for test and analysis of five water samples on his property from December 2007 to September 2008.

Before drilling began, the first test showed a lead measurement of 2.83 parts per billion. But the last sample taken in September showed a level of 17.9 parts per billion, Gross said.

The maximum safe level of lead in drinking water is 15 parts per billion, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Three creeks separate Coles Hill from his home, which is about a mile southwest of the uranium ore deposit. No water flows from Coles Hill to the Grosses’ property, and there’s no scientific evidence that exploratory drilling affected lead levels, Wales said in March.

Gross said he and his wife, Deborah, no longer use their tap water. They drink, cook and brush their teeth using bottled water, he said.

Dan Richardson, environmental health manager for the Pittsylvania-Danville Health District, said earlier this year he is not sure what caused the elevated lead content. Elevated lead levels can come from the aquifer, pumps, piping or spigots, he said.

Richardson said Wednesday he had test results from some other homeowners, but not enough information to determine what increased the amount of lead.

“I would be cautious about drawing conclusions when I don’t have enough statistical information,” he said.

The Pittsylvania-Danville Health District only requires tests for bacteria levels for residential wells, and doesn’t have the budget to perform tests for minerals, Richardson said.

http://www.godanriver.com/gdr/news/local/danville_news/article/lead_levels_near_uranium_site_may_be_examined/10435/