A state environment official said Monday that he doubts an investigation will reveal the source of a gasoline additive contamination in a well that supplies water to 70 people in a Finksburg mobile home park.
“I?m not extremely confident as to finding an actual source,” said Herbert Meade of the State Department of the environment, referring to the MTBE contamination at Sullivan?s Trailer Park along Old Westminster Pike.
Adding to the “confusion” of the investigation, said Brian Flynn of the county?s Environmental Health Department, are separate incidents of methyl tertiary-butyl ether contamination at nearby sites, including three gas stations only miles away from the park.
But Meade pointed to two possible culprits for the contamination.
The first is one of the property?s two wells, which was built in 1959, he said.
Older wells use metal casings that corrode over time, allowing runoff from nearby streets and parking lots to contaminate water.
The second theory involves”cross-contamination.”
Trucks that deliver heating oil to the houses may have once contained gas.
Even a small heating oil spill could result in MTBE in the well water, Meade said.
State and county environmental and health officials have been surveying a half-mile radius around Sullivan?s park to look into any facilities that use petroleum, including a nearby property that was a once a junkyard.
Meade set forth three solutions that could diminish MTBE levels to below the state action level of 20 parts per billion:
»Digging a new well.
»Changing the waterflow between the park?s two wells to dilute the potential carcinogen levels.
»Installing a water-filtration device, for which Arthur and Dorothy Sullivan, the park?s owners, would have to pay.
Meade said Dr. Phil Heard, a toxicologist, will answer any questions from residents concerning the water?s safety at a meeting for residents organized by Arthur Sullivan and scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Sandymount Elementary School.
