From: HARMAN Charles Sent: Monday, May 09, 2011 2:36 PM To: SEIDEL Paul Cc: FORTUNA Steve; GILLES Bruce A Subject: RE: Water System Chemical Detections Paul – Thanks for the update. I will try to go over this with Bruce and think about an approach. Chuck From: SEIDEL Paul Sent: Monday, May 09, 2011 2:28 PM To: HARMAN Charles Cc: FORTUNA Steve; GILLES Bruce A Subject: RE: Water System Chemical Detections Chuck- This is interesting information, thank you. Steve made me aware of this EDB issue a while back, and makes a compelling argument why it could be associated with former pesticide application at Townsend Farms. Townsend Farms no longer produces berries at their Fairview facility, and have not for several years. They do process berries grown all over the region for further distribution. The site is still “active” in the sense we have a VCP agreement, executed in 2007. However, they completed an RI in 2009, which explicitly did not include groundwater. At that time, one of the Townsend brothers who was executing the environmental work left the company, and the remaining Townsends, for whatever reason, have had little to no interest in pursuing a feasibility study or completing remaining cleanup that was indicated by the RI work. The consultant had some difficulty getting paid for the final work to complete the RI. Sometime in 2009, after becoming aware of the EDB issue, I requested both verbally and in writing, that the Townsends sample their wells for EBD, in light of the new information that Steve provided. I was not explicitly formally declined, but the request was never acted on. The only contact DEQ now has with the Townsends, is the occasional phone call when they plan to move some dirt or if they want to sell a lot through the PPA process, which has not happened for several years. Bruce and I have discussed not entertaining further PPA requests, unless they address groundwater. Basically, the status is that no further activity has occurred since completion on the non-groundwater RI. I still have all the files here, and am very open to direction about what would be appropriate under the circumstances. Paul From: HARMAN Charles Sent: Monday, May 09, 2011 2:05 PM To: SEIDEL Paul Subject: FW: Water System Chemical Detections Paul – In regards to the note regarding EBD concentrations in wells at Townsend Farms site, I wanted to know if this is still an active project that you are managing. The reason I ask that is EDB was also detected in some (one?) of the City of Fairview wells and Steve Fortuna had noted in the past that Townsend Farms might be a source of these detections given use of EBD in agriculture. If the Townsend Farms project is still open, then I wanted to discuss with you and Bruce about how we can evaluate this problem – if it hasn’t been evaluated already – through Townsend Farms. I’ve lost some of the details of the Townsend Farms project from what I’ve heard in the past, but believe that the primary focus had been on pesticides in surface soils. In my estimation the presence of EDB in City of Fairview wells, along with high concentrations in Townsend Farm wells, which is within that well-field area, would make finding a source of this contaminant a high priority. Even if there is not a broad impact to existing City of Fairview wells we should do some kind of beneficial water use determination. But based on my knowledge of this area, I would assume that groundwater would be determined to be a source of domestic and public drinking water supply. I am interested in knowing if the EDB in groundwater issue has been evaluated at Townsend Farms, and, if not, then strategize on how to figure out the nature and extent of any source. Thanks Chuck Harman Interim Manager, NWR Cleanup Section Oregon Department of Environmental Quality Northwest Region 2020 SW 4th Avenue, Suite 400 Portland, OR 97201-4987 (503) 229-6431 (office) (503) 209-9103 (cell) (503) 229-6899 (fax) From: WISTAR Gil Sent: Friday, February 18, 2011 9:06 AM To: MONROE Sheila; GILLES Bruce A; HARMAN Charles; CHRISTENSEN Jeff; ROSENBERG Max; MASON Bill Cc: HARVEY Julie Subject: RE: Water System Chemical Detections FYI. I have reformatted Tom’s database a bit, to make it more readable, and to focus on the chemicals Cleanup usually addresses. There seem to be several new detections, and something unusual going on at the Pedee School. EBD was also detected at about twice its MCL at Townsend Farms in Fairview. Let me know if you have any questions about the data. Julie, have y9ou sent this data to Sheree and Audrey? Anyone else in WQ who should see it? Gil From: Tom PATTEE [mailto:tom.pattee@state.or.us] Sent: Friday, February 11, 2011 3:24 PM To: Gil WISTAR Cc: Joshua SEEDS; Julie Harvey Subject: Water System Chemical Detections Gil, Attached is an update of significant chemical detections that occurred in routine public water supply monitoring during the fourth quarter of 2010. Detections of more immediate concern are identified in red text. These include nitrate concentrations above 7 mg/L and any organic detections that have occurred for the first time or that are greater than 25% of the chemical MCL. The purpose of this e-mail is to keep your agency informed of water quality issues that we have become aware of and is not intended to suggest that any specific action be taken by DEQ. A more detailed listing of monitoring results can be found at the DHS data online website (I have provided links in the spreadsheet). Chemical sampling results for each water system can be found at the bottom of each Water System Info Page under the "Entry Point Detects", "Single Analyte Results", or "Nitrate" links. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Tom Pattee, R.G. Groundwater Coordinator Drinking Water Program OR Dept. of Human Services