Hector, in addition to being a good fiend to many in Oro Valley, is also extremely knowledgeable on many technical issues confronting us.
Please take the time to read Hector's message. He addresses his concerns about the toxic waste site just to our north, known as Page Trowbridge Ranch. Hector has firsthand information he is sharing with us.
We previously discussed this (scary) issue, most recently on June 23. An Oro Valley Resident Addresses Toxic Waste Issue.
Art
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In the 1940’s the University Of Arizona (UA) started using a piece of vacant land in Falcon Valley as a dump site for chemicals used in the laboratories. The procedure consisted of throwing the chemicals in a ditch in the desert and leaving. The location was called the Page Trowbridge Ranch (PTR). At one time, they burned the solvents and thus the fire department discovered the un-permitted dumpsite. An Oracle resident wrote a long report and started questioning the procedure. By then it was around the year 2000. There were many meetings with the UA staff and the Department of Environmental Quality, in which I participated. I worked 5 years in a nuclear physics research lab in the past, so I was curious. They used radioactive scintillators in an organic solvent, for diagnostic purposes.
After a few years, due to rare circumstances, I became a member of a UA science committee on the PTR dumpsite. At the last meeting, a report came out related to the presence of volatile organic compounds (VOC) in amounts that far exceeded the permissible and at depths that nobody expected. The report of March 2003 was prepared by consultant Weston Solutions of Phoenix. Some experts at the meeting attributed the location and the unexpected shallow depth of the VOC’s to their travel speed --faster than the water in the aquifer -- and at depth of their own (100 to 200 feet). The committee never met again since.
At the time my wife fell ill and I could not devote any more time to the project which included traveling. My wife passed away last year, but I am reluctant to work on the project, and I'd rather like to have somebody take over, because of my age. What has to be done is to find out why they are building on top of VOC contaminated ground. It may be that some ground treatment is taking place, as is done with some other sites in Tucson, but I don’t know. The answer is in Phoenix. All this VOC information I have is 5 years old.
There are about 36 miles or 190,000 feet from Oracle and Tangerine to the dumpsite. Groundwater velocities vary from 100 to 10,000 feet per year in the aquifer and the direction of travel from Falcon Valley is N-S and then in Oro Valley it is E-W. The travel time could be 2,000 or 19 years. This is according to a study by W. Osterkamp in 1974. This applies to water, which carries most of the dissolved solids and has a well defined path underground. VOC’s may differ in its travel and needs to be detected by drilling (which was the next promised step in 2003) It will probably follow some easy geological path. The area between Falcon Valley and Oro Valley is a corridor 5 miles wide surrounded by mountains, so the path for VOC’s will follow the same route, going south. Since the terrain is about 400 feet higher in Falcon Valley, the VOC and water direction is the same. VOC’s close to the surface evaporate. Given the difference in altitude and the distance, drawdown has a negligible effect. The big effect is water use in Falcon Valley, which will reduce the underground water flowing to Oro Valley, about 8000 acre feet per year. I have calculated that at build-out of all the permitted development, there will not be any water flowing.
At this time the aquifer continues to be contaminated. We should get test results of commercial wells in Oracle Junction, for the chemicals that we know are dissolved in the aquifer. The dumpsite is covered with plastic today, but only on top, which is a halfway measure. The optimum would be to remove all the contaminants, an expensive undertaking. The time for contaminants to travel from PTR to the water company wells is many years, but the dumpsite is old, since this has started years ago.
Hector Conde
11 comments:
Does anyone remember Love Canal, the housing development in Niagara Falls that was built on a toxic waste site? Residents were evacuated permanently in 1978 when it was discovered that the chemicals were leaching up through the soil, causing cancer and birth defects.
Those who do not know history are condemned to repeat it.
I drove past Love Canal in 1980 during a trip to Niagara Falls. It was one of the saddest sights I've ever seen.
For details on the Love Canal story, check out this website:
http://www.epa.gov/history/topics/lovecanal/01.htm
Here is a quote from the article:
"Unlike Love Canal, few [chemical dumpsites] are situated so close to human settlements, but without a doubt, many of these old dumpsites are time bombs with burning fuses...their contents slowly leaching out. And the next victim could be a water supply or a sensitive wetland."
According to information on Volk Company's website @ www.volkco.com/pdf/orovalleymarketplace, there are up to 65,000 new homes recently constructed or planned within the Oro Valley Marketplace trade area.
I'm not sure how many of these planned developments would be impacted by this water problem.
All of us are impacted by this "water problem", aren't we? Especially given that we have no clue on how far these contaminants have traveled. So, I consider us all in danger here.
What we don't know here could kill us. What is the current situation and how will development impact our water supply?
Someone needs to bring this up at the July 1 hearing on Arroyo Grande
Thanks, Hector, for yet another insightful piece.
Are the people in Oracle having babies with 3 arms?
Seriously--has any epidemiological study been carried out closer to the site of the "dump" to determine what impacts there have been?
I'm not saying that there is not the potential for groundwater contamination in AG. I'm only asking if there have been any studies done relating to the biology of the living organisms that are closest to the original site? They don't even have to be human to be studied.
Has anyone asked the OV Water Utility what their well testing is showing? Are certain levels of specific known toxic chemicals rising or staying the same?
Let's start at the beginning with the answers to these relatively simple questions before we start working ourselves into a lather.
(Yes--I know, better safe than sorry. Yes, I understand that. How much are you willing to pay to learn if you are safe because it will ALWAYS come down to resources and what you're willing to commit to. It's your and my money. Do you want the County, the State, the U of A to do more testing? What are you willing to pay for that? How will you pay for that?) When and how will you know if you're satisfied with the answers you get?
No lather, boobie-baby. Just want to be sure that all factors are considered by council as it moves to annex Arroyo Grande.
Zee Man,
Be careful of Conde's pseudo-science. He could work a bar of Lava Soap into a lather.
Talking about being careful---- boobie-baby should be careful, lest he/she be confused by some as being a "bureaucrat."
Hector Conde surely doesn't need me to defend him. Those of us who know him, believe his background speaks for itself.
A "bureaucrat"?
That's as bad as calling someone a "blog site operator"!
In this case, I am merely questioning science from 1974. How many of you would want to be treated for cancer using 34 year old methods?
Conde may have scientific training that others of us don't have, but that doesn't give him the mantle of expert. He's right to bring this to our attention (not the first time--it's been known for years), but how about focusing on the bigger question: Who do you want to have stewardship over this land? The state? The county? The Town? Regardless of what's underneath, who is going to do the best job of seeing that the land is properly planned and used appropriately, even if that use = nothing (e.g., open space). Who will listen to your concerns and act on them appropriately?
So, Hector's science notwithstanding, let's answer the main question here.
Boobie,
I really am not sure who would be the best steward of this property.
But I am cheering for actions that
could prevent the land from being developed.
So after that I don't care if Mickey Mouse technically owns it, well only if he has Minnie on the deed : )
After the P & Z hearing and listening to Carolyn Campbell. Executive Director of The Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection, there is a real good chance MsCoyote and thousands of others will get their wish: The land will stay in the hands of the wildlife.
See posting on meeting for more detail.
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