AlB-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 12, 1992 Proper Well Construction First Step In Water Quality (Continued from Page A 1) of the liquid went onto the ground. Eventually, the high density liq uid fertilizer had to go somewhere. With the help of fire department and Haz Mat crews, the spill was contained. Stauffer, a broiler and feeder pig farmer for many years, was worried could the liquid end up in the farm’s groundwater? “Containing the spill to a small area of the farm was very helpful. But the test well in that vicinity was very high in nitrates ... up at like 200 parts per million,” said Stauffer. (The allowable EPA established limit is 10 parts per million for drinking water.) Stauf fer said the spills never affected the hand-dug house .well, which “would have hurt," he said. And fortunately, the spill didn’t leak into the nearby Trout Run Creek, which “would have been a big problem for us,” he said. Right now, working with USGS, about five wellheads are under continual survey, and the David D. Bingaman, environmental specialist with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, said farmers should constantly examine what they do near a wellhead site. “Maybe it’s a situation (where) you have to abstain from using a certain chemical because it’s prone to leach ing or you have highly erodible soils,” he said. Rodger Myers, far left, observes the drilling operation at a site in Ronks. This drill penetrates to about 127 feet. water is tested quarterly for nitrates Time has passed since the acci dent, and the contaminated well is near normal, according to Stauffer. Other wells have tested high in col iform bacteria in the past but since installing an ultraviolet light and monitoring the water, the problems have disappeared. Stauffer believes that farmers must take more time and effort to manage nutrients on the farm, which affects water quality direct ly. He follows close nutrient man agement planning to ensure most of his crops obtain only the nutri ents they need. Test well water For dairy fanners, having the well water tested is as commonp lace as cleaning out the sprayer or filling the silo. Many of the milk inspectors test for high nitrates on the farm, and farmers must comply. Farmers, to get the milk check, tans Troy Myers, Myers . os. Drilling i casing location at a site in Ronks are quick to install niters and employ other methods which are quick-fixes to the problems of nitrates in the well, without sol ving the real problems is there surface water contamination? And should they be drilling a new well? A well is often located near a farm building. David Bingaman, environmental specialist with the Pennsylvania Department of Agri culture, recalled a story of a Cum berland County dairy farmer who located a bam right over the top of a well. Bingaman said the farmer appeared more concerned about possible pesticide contaminant levels than nitrate levels in the well. Bingaman said a common prob lem is site location. “A lot of that is what happens,” he said. “And that would cany over to nitrates as well. If you spill liquid nitrogen near your well, you may contami nate your own water. “And if you spill a little bit in your routine work over a period of years, a similar type of problem may develop.” Bingaman said farmers should constantly examine what they do near a wellhead site. “Maybe it’s a situation (where) you have to abs tain from using a certain chemical because it’s prone to leaching or you have highly erodible soils,” he said. Farmers should take time to exa mine where the contamination may be occurring. A lot of it, according to Bingaman, may be from “storm events” that carry nitrates into the well. Could the results be from overapplication of commercial Tertilizers? Manure? From a manure holding facility? Septic system? Residential housing? “Certainly the storage areas that are being installed are made with preventative measures to ensure that you’re not getting contamina tion from the storage area,” .said Bingaman. “Without evidence otherwise, we have .to assume that they’re working to some degree.” Bingaman said many of the wells in this region of the country are located on limestone-type soils, which are prone to contami nation because of “the porous nature of the rock and the ability of things like sinkholes and macro pores to allow water to move dur ing storm events from the surface area down into a sinkhole or macropore and enter the ground- mtractors, removes weathered rock from the A heavy downpour during the swine show at the Ephrata Fair proves an example of a “storm event” that could force heavy amounts of nitrate into wells. Farmers should take time to examine where the contamination may be occurring. water flow systems very rapidly.” Limestone geology Leon Ressler' Lancaster County Extension environment specialist, said much of Lancaster County is “limestone geology, which has fractures in the bedrock and is also prone to sinkholes. Sinkholes area direct conduit of surface water into the groundwater, and we have some shallow outcroppings of rock which are cracked. So when you get shallow percolation through the shallow topsoil to the cracks in the bedrock, that can quickly trans port whatever’s coming in off the surface to the water supply.” Bingaman said “proper well construction is very important,” including properly cased wells with necessary grouting around the surface to ensure that you’re not getting surface water flowing down along the edge of the casing and contaminating the well. But although many wells are old and improperly constructed, for the most part problems go unre ported Many new wells are dug, often to increase supply, as when farmers continue to increase herd size or expand their operations. But one potential problem at a farm may be well abandonment. “If for whatever reason you no lon ger use a well,” saidßessler, “what you really should do is cut the cas ing off about six feet below the sur face so it’s out of your way. Fill the casing with concrete below that point and seal it off (put some con crete around the top) to keep any surface water from following that old casing.” In the case of an improperly constructed old well, simply aban doning it leaves the potential for (Turn to Pago A2O)
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