DEEP pollution control in a nutshell, first 500 pages.

I have a way of explaining that the DEEP is not looking to stop pollution, but rather they are looking to reduce pollution. Stopping pollution is impossible, but reducing pollution is ridiculous.

All the water testing in this area of Torrington, ever, has found Perchloroethylene or PCE, called “perc” the chemical used in dry cleaning. Acceptable levels for drinking water, well water, is 5 Parts Per Billion. For non drinking water it is 9 PPB. In 1978 there was 7 PPB found testing that gas station at the corner near here. That is the only time the levels were above 5 PPB. OSHA permits daily exposure up to 100 PPMillion. That is 20,000 times more than 5 PPB.

But because of that testing from 1978 we had to certify that there were no water wells within 500 feet. There is one, on top of the hill across the street, much further away and uphill from me, but since the property was adjoining by an 8 foot wide drive way I had, can’t remember what, but I had to appeal the entire process. They reported to DEEP that they had found a hazard. I fired my Licensed Environmental Professional LEP because I disagreed that the 5 PPB constituted a hazard, sued them to return my retainer, hired another LEP and passed the Audit. The hazard classification was removed.

The well water was tested, of course, and they would not tell me how much was found, privacy issues, but it was certified below 5 PPB. The people still had the well, but were using town water anyway.

So from there I had to prove the levels found in 1978 were decreasing. In the end, over the 15 years, there were 8 sampling wells drilled to isolate the highest measurement, about 3.4 PPB, and all the other wells around it in a circle showed reduced amounts proving there was no possibility of further pollution. I had to drill on neighbor’s property on one side.

But during all this PCE stuff a water test found some buried lead. I had to remediate. It came from some fill the previous owner bought from the City of Torrington after the flood of 1955. It was one truck load removed and taken to New Jersey, cost me over $25,000. And it still wasn’t below the levels to pass the audit. So the rules for lead are different at the levels I had. Since I was next to the Naugatuck River which was regularly monitored I only had to prove that over five years the levels are not increasing. Quarterly monitoring of 6 wells for five years.

So about two years ago, after a rare but expensive DEEP audit of the entire process, according to my LEP, we passed and I finally got the Holy Grail called “A Letter Of No Audit”.