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Drinking Water Success Stories
National Information
On this page:
- Hammond Public Service District, Wellsburg, West Virginia
- AK Steel, Zelienople, Pennsylvania
- Custer City, Pennsylvania
- DuPont Washington Works, Parkersburg, West Virginia
EPA Grant to Hammond Public Service District Provides a Safe, Reliable Source of Drinking Water - The Hammond Public Service District 
in Wellsburg, West Virginia was awarded a $52,900 grant to extend its existing drinking water system to the Lazears Lane section of the District. Residences and businesses in this area currently rely on water that is brought in by trucks and stored in cisterns. Potentially, this source of drinking water is unsafe and susceptible to bacterial contamination, and is not subject to any state or federal agency drinking water requirements. The project will eliminate the use of water brought in by trucks to serve the residents and businesses along Lazears Lane. As a result, the new customers will have a safe, reliable source of potable water that will meet federal and state drinking water standards. In addition, they will have a water supply that will provide adequate fire protection. The EPA grant will help pay for 55% of the estimated $154,900 project cost; construction is expected to begin in January 2008.
AK Steel - The Borough of Zelienople is a small town located outside of Pittsburgh at the confluence of Scholars Run and Connoquenessing Creek. The Borough uses Connoquenessing Creek as a secondary source of drinking water during periods of drought when its primary drinking water source, Scholars Run, is insufficient. A stainless steel mill operated by AK Steel also uses Connoquenessing Creek and its pollution discharge outfalls are located about 21 miles upstream of the Borough's secondary drinking water intake.
In March 2000, EPA was contacted by a citizens group claiming that the Borough of Zelienople had withdrawn water containing high concentrations of nitrate from the Connoquenessing Creek. EPA investigated this claim by retrieving discharge and drinking water data, inspecting the drinking water system and the AK Steel facility, and reviewing state files. At the time of EPA's investigation, the AK Steel facility was discharging nitrate at a rate of over 20,000 lbs/day even though the PA Department of Environmental Protection had determined that the Butler facility would need to meet a nitrate limit of 999 lb/day to protect the downstream drinking water intake. EPA subsequently determined that the discharge of treated spent pickle liquors from AK Steel's outfalls could, by raising nitrate levels in Connoquenessing Creek, cause imminent and substantial endangerment of persons consuming drinking water drawn from the creek. EPA also discovered that high nitrate levels were measured in drinking water from a well adjacent to the creek and downstream of the Borough.
The Borough had in the past provided drinking water to pregnant women and infants but had not taken measures to protect customers outside the Borough or transient populations. In June 2000, EPA issued an emergency order requiring AK Steel to:
- provide an alternative water source to the Borough,
- identify wells impacted by the nitrate discharge, and
- reduce nitrate discharge from the AK Steel facility by October 31, 2001.
AK Steel subsequently appealed the order in Federal court while simultaneously entering negotiations with EPA. In March 2001, EPA and AK Steel signed an Emergency Order on Consent. This agreement required AK Steel to:
- provide potable water to the citizens of Zelienople by installing a reverse osmosis system to remove nitrate at the Borough's water plant;
- perform a survey of wells along the Connoquenessing Creek and provide bottled water to users of wells that produce nitrate-contaminated water;
- eliminate nitric acid from the pickling processes used at the AK Steel facility on or before October 31, 2002;
- pay $60,000 to Zelienople for improvements of its drinking water system.
From August 3, 2001 through November 21, 2001, the Borough of Zelienople withdrew water from the Connoquenessing Creek. The water from the creek was treated using the reverse osmosis system supplied by AK Steel to reduce the levels of nitrate. Approximately 55 million gallons of water had been treated through this system, and the system reduced the levels of nitrate to less than 1 parts per million (ppm). In addition, AK Steel was required to inventory and test private wells along the Connoquenessing. AK Steel has completed to EPA's satisfaction this part of the Order. The highest nitrate level found in any of the private wells was 3 ppm, well below the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of 10 ppm. AK Steel has also either converted or shut off their five lines ahead of schedule, and their nitrate discharges are only slightly above 200 lb/day. The Borough of Zelienople is now seeing nitrate levels from the Connoquenessing of approximately 2 ppm.
Custer City, Pennsylvania - The Custer City oil facility, located in McKean County, Pennsylvania, had produced oil through primary methods in the 1950's. Prior to being developed for enhanced recovery, several old abandoned wells were identified and plugged. After several years of injection, an improperly abandoned well within the facility allowed production fluids to migrate into a underground source of drinking water which served several private water supplies. Benzene and other oil related contaminants, were identified at endangering levels in the water wells. EPA used its emergency authorities under the underground injection control program and the Safe Drinking Water Act to require the facility operator to properly plug and abandon the well in question and provide water treatment to the impacted residences. EPA also worked with local entities to help acquire a grant for the extension of a public water supply to the affected area.
C-8 Contamination in West Virginia, DuPont Washington Works - The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WV DEP) and EPA investigated the ground water and surface water contamination with a waste product C-8 generated at the DuPont Washington Works near Parkersburg, West Virginia. Although C-8 is not currently regulated by either agency, it is known to be persistent in humans and may have long-term health effects. In November 2001, WVDEP and the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources entered into a consent Order with DuPont . The Order required a human health risk assessment of C-8, ground water and surface water monitoring, plume identification, and remediation. Initial monitoring along the Ohio River at the Little Hocking, Ohio public water supply intake indicated the presence of C-8 in concentrations as high as 7.7 parts per billion (ppb).
The C- 8 monitoring program was then expanded to include additional water supplies in both West Virginia and Ohio. In March 2002, EPA issued its own emergency consent Order to DuPont to address these water supplies. The Order required DuPont to provide a potable alternate water supply to all users of public and private water supplies with C-8 concentrations exceeding the drinking water "screening level." A team of toxicologists comprised of several federal, state and research entities reviewed the available C-8 toxicity data and information. The team determined that a water level containing less than 150 ppb of C8 would not cause harm to humans. Monitoring results from nearby wells and surface water in West Virginia and Ohio indicated concentrations of 10 ppb or less, which is substantially below the health protective level announced by the team. Under the EPA Order, DuPont will be required to provide alternate water to users of water supplies exceeding 150 ppb.
