Preliminary results of the most recent tests on groundwater taken from beneath the Page-Trowbridge radioactive/toxic waste landfill Nov. 17 again detected toluene, a federally regulated contaminant as well as the contaminant bis(2-Ethylhexyl)phthalate. 

       Samples for the most recent tests were split between the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) and the UA to allow independent testing. 

       The ADEQ and UA conducted a total of 4 tests on the water from Monitoring Well #2 (MW #2). All tests detected toluene. 

       Toluene was detected earlier this year in samples taken from a different monitoring well. 

       Turner labs also reported detection of the compound bis(2-Ethylhexyl)phthalate in the Nov. 17 samples. 

       The same compound was detected earlier this year in tests run on water taken from the same well in August. 

       The UA speculated the earlier finding of bis(2-Ethylhexyl)phthalate was due to the equipment used for the August sampling. The UA has not yet conjectured on a possible cause for the latest detection of this contaminant. 

       Turner Laboratories, the lab hired by the UA, reported toluene in the Nov. 17 samples from MW #2 at concentrations of 1.4 parts per billion (ppb) in the original sample to 1.6 ppb in the duplicate sample. 
ADEQ found toluene in the Nov. 17 samples from MW #2 at concentrations of 1.2 ppb in the original sample and 1/3 ppb in the duplicate sample. 

       Oracle Town Hall learned of the latest contaminant detection's via a report written by Steve Holland, UA director of risk management and safety. Unlike earlier reports, the Oracle Town Hall did not have to file a formal Request for Public Records to obtain the report. 

       Even though the samples containing the contaminants were taken from groundwater that lies beneath several million pounds of toxic chemical waste buried at Page-Trowbridge for almost 40 years, the UA report says "no specific conclusions can be drawn" from the fact that the same contaminants have been detected in three separate monitoring wells within the last 7 months. 

       In his report to the Oracle Town Hall, Holland speculates the latest toluene detection could have resulted from a pump that was possibly "contaminated during servicing and/or reinstallation." Holland's report failed to mention the date that the pump was last serviced. 

       Holland also speculated to the Arizona Daily Star newspaper that the toluene detected in the water samples could have resulted from solvent vapors wafting from the diesel-fired generator used to run the pump. 

       When asked about the earlier toluene detection Holland told the Northwest Explorer newspaper, "if there were a column of toluene moving through 650 feet of soil, and it were in the groundwater, it would show up in every sample, it’s not like a ghost town there that’s going to hide out one time and show up the next time." 

       Holland then added, "if it’s dripping into the aquifer, then there’s a ton of it in the soil between zero feet, and 650 feet." 

       Steve Soriano, vice president of Robson Communities Inc., said he doesn’t believe the latest finding of contaminants is "evidence of anything yet," because the amount of contamination detected thus far is "so far below the maximum contamination limit" allowed by federal law. 

       Robson Communities Inc. is attempting to build a retirement community on land adjacent to the dump. Conservative estimates place the revenue potential of the development at 1 to 2 billion dollars.

       Even though the EPA requires the landfill to be monitored for 30 years whether or not contaminants are detected, ADEQ spokesman Jim Fallin told the Arizona Daily Star that the latest finding of contaminants means continued monitoring will be necessary.

       Fallin also said the latest detection of contaminants underscores "the commitment of ADEQ to continue to safeguard public safety." 

       ADEQ has granted waivers to several local water companies that pump water from the Page-Trowbridge aquifer allowing them to bypass testing for contaminants for at least three years. The last test for methylene chloride in the Oracle wells was in 1997 soon after the contaminant had been detected in the Oracle water supply at a concentration of 0.6 ppb. 

       Falin also told the Arizona Daily Star that the latest contaminant findings "are an indication that the monitoring system is working."

       While the monitoring system may be working, local residents are left to wonder if the monitoring process is working.

       An earlier detection of toluene occurred in two independent tests run on samples taken from a Page-Trowbridge monitoring well in April. The fact that toluene had been detected in two samples was withheld from ADEQ by the UA and/or Turner labs, and came to light when the Oracle Town Hall requested and received the test reports from a technician at the lab. 

       Turner labs then threatened to prosecute a representative of Oracle Town Hall unless he returned the tests to the laboratory and quit disseminating them to the press and interested citizens. 

       When representatives of the Oracle Town Hall presented ADEQ with evidence that a test confirming toluene was present in groundwater had been willfully withheld from ADEQ, ADEQ promised to investigate, but cautioned that the residents "shouldn't get their hopes up." 

       The Oracle Town Hall as well as the Southeast Regional Safe Water Committee have requested ADEQ report their effort and progress in the investigation. 

       Oracle residents recently completed a referendum petition drive to suspend rezoning that would allow 12,000 people to invest in property adjacent to and down aquifer from the Page-Trowbridge toxic waste dump. 

       The residents want a complete review of the risks to public health posed by the toxic waste site before people are allowed to live next to it and depend on the water beneath it. 

       The water in the Page-Trowbridge aquifer is the sole water supply for Oracle, SaddleBrooke, Catalina, Oro Valley and Sun City Vistoso.

The image below show an artists conception of SaddleBrooke Ranch, with the Page-Trowbridge radioactive/toxic waste landfill in the foreground. The image has been annotated to show the confirmed hits of contaminants. 

Many other contaminants have been detected in the monitoring wells over the years, but they were all discounted by the UA as "lab errors" or "lab contamination."

The wells of SaddleBrooke are off the image.
 

click on image for larger view