Contaminated groundwater

Has anyone got a plan yet for the polluted groundwater moving steadily toward Bisbee? It may still seem far away but what are we going to do to stop it? Just sit around and ignore it until we have to truck water in?

do you know something we don't? I've only heard about the problem moving from the leach-pits couth of Warren twoard the border.

Last November, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) issued a Consent Order requiring Phelps Dodge to come up with, and implement a plan to mitigate the advance of the Sulfate Plume that has already affected a Naco Water Company well, and is slowly advancing toward the Arizona Water Company wellfield. Part of the consent order calls for a citizens committee to monitor PD's progress. I sit on that committee, along with the Public Works Director. Over the next 2 years there will be a lot of activity monitoring existing wells south and west of Bisbee, and PD will be working with that data to come up with a method to mitigate the problem.

All of the City of Bisbee's water comes from the AZ Water Company's wellfield in Naco, so we will be working through this committee and ADEQ to ensure that the plume is mitigated. I have the assurance from ADEQ that the citizen's committee's input will be taken seriously by them. ADEQ has representatives attending all the meetings, so they are listening.

Like everything else, this problem will take a long time to solve, but we are already working on it.

Regards,
Steve Pauken

Thanks Steve, Keep us updated.

The Community Advisory Group met this afternoon, and we received an update on the status of the Consent Order from ADEQ and the actions that have taken place to date. As far as we can tell, the sulfate plume is still moving, but very slowly.

The Arizona Dept. of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) has asked Freeport to clarify a couple of items in their Work Plan for Mitigation, namely 1) the rationale for design and construction of monitoring wells, and 2) the method for conducting hydraulic testing. Freeport responded with that information on April 21st and should get those two tasks integrated into the consent order in the next 30 days.

As far as drilling, the Company will drill 16 additional wells as a part of the monitoring process. They are already getting good cooperation from area well owners for taking samples. They have already drilled a 700 foot hole right next to the San Jose Waste Water Treatment plant to test for the depth of the Sulfate. We already know that the sulfate in the shallow well at the WWTP is over 250 mg/l. Several samples will need to be taken in order to determine the average amount of sulfate, but early indications are that there is about 30 mg/l at 700 feet.

Freeport has established a web link for all of the public documents that they generate during the course of the mitigation order, which will take about 2 years to complete. The link is

The documents are also available in hard-copy at the Copper Queen Library.

I'll pass along more information when I get it. Our next meeting will be July 29th at the Convention Center.

Regards,
Steve Pauken

The link disappeared when I posted!

Since the link to the public documents I mentioned above doesn't show up here, I've posted a news release on the City of Bisbee Website in the News link that has the URL.

Regards,
Steve Pauken

Thanks so much for the update. We will read the rest of the report.

I have just reset the BBCode authorization for the URL links. It is now working. If it presents a problem again, let me know.

Here is an issue with real importance to Bisbee but does anyone notice. No, why because they are too busy hunting for personal vendetta to worry about whether the drinking water is going to be clean for the next 100 years.

Thanks so much Steve, those of us who aren't hunting for stupid complaints against those in city government are reading it and do appreciate it.

Hi Everybody:
The Community Action Group (CAG) for the Sulfate Plume Consent Order met again today for the 3rd time. What we learned today is that the Revised Work Plan was submitted on July 3 and was approved by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ). The two most important features of the revised plan include better definition of the methods for drilling the test wells and that any further modifications to the work plan will require ADEQ approval. Significant dates in the Work plan include completion of the Aquifer Characterization Report (this will identify the actual breadth and depth of the sulfate plume) by 4/30/09, completion of the Feasibility Study by 7/31/09, and completion of the Mitigation Report (this will recommend the actual method of arresting the plume) by 9/30/09. Also, it was reported that the well inventory report was delivered to ADEQ today. There are 204 wells in the study area, and 43 are determined to be active drinking water wells (of course, these include all of the wells owned by the water companies). So far, 13 wells are above the threshold of 250 mg/L of sulfates, and the owners are being supplied with bottled water for drinking. Six more wells are in the high range but below 250 mg/L so these wells will be sampled monthly to see if they get worse. The others are required to be sampled quarterly under the Consent Order.
Questions were asked about the now-closed evaporation pond located south of the tailings pile, specifically if it continued to release sulfates into the aquifer. The pond was "Capped" in 1989, and even though it was the primary contributor to the sulfate plume, its contributions have been reduced over time. Still, there is a large amount of sulfate in the aquifer that will continue to exist and leach through the aquifer for many years (perhaps generations) that will require mitigation. Thus the need for the Consent Order from ADEQ. Is there an immediate threat to Bisbee's drinking water? No, but pumping operations do have the effect of drawing the sulfate plume toward the wells. Therfore, mitigation will still be necessary.
In our next quarterly meeting (October) we expect to receive even better information on the well testing. Well owners (including the city's wells) have been very cooperative. I will report what I know after the next meeting so you can stay well informed.
Regards,
Steve Pauken

Thanks for letting us know the latest on the steps being taken to avoid a potential enviornmental disaster. A heck of a lot more important than some of the stupid crap being discussed.

Damn fine job!

Thanks Steve!

Is the Community Action Group the same as the Community Advisory Group?