Does anyone know what's going on at the farm at the corner of Mial Plantation and Old Baucom? There have been several drill rigs there for a while. I'd guess they're doing test borings but for what? They also lifted that blue house off it's foundation about a mile or so up Old Baucom but they haven't done anything with it since. I don't know if that's part of the same project. I think the City of Raleigh owns the land because I see their trucks there from time to time. I don't know if some developer bought it and is planning a subdivision or something. I pass by there everyday on the way to work and I'm just curious. Also, that new pave job is good-to-go in my book.
the city of raleigh waste water treatment plant is nearby- the water table was contaminated for that area -they sprayed effluent on those fields - so those are test wells to monitor the water table -- the city of raleigh had to run city water to those residents in the area because of the contamination
Lots of municipalities use treated effluent for irrigation. The treated water should be no more harmful than river water. Was there an incident where the water contained some contaminants that weren't treated?
i was searching to see if the articles were archived some where but haven't come across them ---- i believe it has been three years maybe even longer that there was an issue -- but i do know those are test wells
www.neuseriver.org/advocacynews/profileofapolluter And this article in the N & O Nitrate levels too high in wells Saturday, August 24, 2002 News & Observer By Sarah Lindenfeld Hall, staff writer © Copyright 2002News & Observer Publishing Company RALEIGH - Seven private wells --near where the city sprays sludge from its wastewater treatment plant --are contaminated with nitrates, making the water unsafe to drink, preliminary test results show. On Friday the city notified residents in the rural corner of southern Wake County and offered them free bottled water until the results can be verified. The test results represent the first confirmation that the treatment plant's troubles might be hurting the health of people who live around it. Nitrates are regulated in drinking water because they have been linked to "blue baby syndrome," a rare but potentially fatal disease in infants. Experts say there are other, less documented, health risks including miscarriages, some kinds of cancer and diabetes. Poultry and cattle also are sensitive to nitrates. Federal standards allow nitrate levels no greater than 10 parts per million in drinking water. Tests of the seven wells found levels ranging from 12.4 parts per million to 31.8 parts per million. The city tested four of the wells on land William Rhodes owns. One well, where he rents out an old farmhouse, turned up a nitrate level of 15.4 parts per million. "We're just wondering what the city is going to do about it," Rhodes said. "They took bottled water over to my people today. I guess that is temporary, but something has to be done on a permanent basis. If they are going to spray the field and contaminate the water stream, then they should do something about it." City Manager Russell Allen said the city asked consultants testing 36 wells near the plant to submit early results if any showed contamination. Allen cautioned that a laboratory still needs to check them. He expects final results by the end of next week. The city also wants to verify the source of the contamination. "There will have to be more follow-up testing," Allen said. The state Division of Water Quality tested all but one of the wells Friday to verify the city's results. Division spokesman Ernie Seneca said the state has accelerated the testing and hopes to get results back in the next few days, plus test the remaining well. "This is a priority job, and we're looking for a quick turnaround," he said. Raleigh decided to test the private wells in June after reports that it had sprayed two to three times the permissible amount of sludge on its farm fields, possibly causing extensive groundwater contamination underneath the fields. That same month, the state fined the city $72,500 for 103 violations in 2000 and 2001 of spraying too much sludge --the solids left over after the treatment process -- on its 1,000 acres of farm fields near the plant. The city has since agreed to spend more than $2 million to fix the sludge and other problems at the plant. State and city officials are assessing a more than decadelong history of elevated contaminants, mostly nitrates, in some of its monitoring wells at the plant site. Robert Rubin, a professor in the biological and agricultural engineering department at N.C. State University, said nitrates can be removed from well water in a complicated and expensive process. Natural processes will eventually clean out nitrates. "A lot of the food you eat has much higher levels of nitrates than what we are talking about here," Rubin said. "And I'm not saying that to eliminate concern. But there are specific populations -- nursing mothers, immuno-compromised people -- who are sensitive to high levels of nitrates. The general public is not." Allen said city officials were surprised by the location of the problem wells, mostly in a cluster near the intersection of Mial Plantation and Old Baucom roads. In the past several years, the city had stopped spraying sludge on fields next to several of the homes. Tests also found elevated nitrate levels in a well off Brown Field Road owned by a company planning to open a construction debris landfill in the area. Allen said faulty septic tanks, farm ponds or lawn fertilizer also could cause high nitrate levels. In an e-mail message to city, state and Wake County officials Thursday evening, H. Dale Crisp, Raleigh's public utilities director, said the city will inspect whether the private wells were poorly constructed or situated. Word of the test results raced Friday through the community near the corner of Old Baucom and Mial Plantation roads. Evelyn Young, who has lived on Old Baucom Road for 28 years, said she has never had a problem with her water. But she learned Friday afternoon that tests found nitrate levels of 17.8 parts per million in her well but no problems in her neighbor's wells. "If the city's done something ... I'm troubled with it," she said. "It's not good for me." Others with contaminated wells include Bobby Blowe, who works for the state water quality division, and his in-laws along Shotwell Road in Johnston County. Blowe declined to comment Friday before he spoke with city officials about the results. By Friday evening, Jimmy Adams, who lives on Old Baucom Road, had heard about results for the seven contaminated wells, but not his own. Allen said preliminary results for Adams' well and 28 others were below federal nitrate limits. The city plans to contact the well owners with the official results, he said. Adams plans to get his well tested on his own. "I haven't heard anything," he said, "and I'm real anxious to hear."
Wow. I appreciate the info. I didn't realize there was such a long history there. That certainly explains the monitoring wells and the location. BTW, it seems unlikely but were there any old industrial sites in that area? The term brownfield I've heard used for abandoned industrial sites. Brownfield Road is off of Old Baucom and is referred to in the article.
