When Fantastic Caverns went public with concerns about chemical pollution from a Springfield industrial site, property owners with wells nearby flooded state regulators with requests for free water well testing.
The first 35 free water well samples have been tested, and DNR reports that five of those had the chemical, though at levels below the EPA’s maximum allowable limit for human exposure in drinking water.
"The department is mailing sampling results letters for the first 35 wells sampled to property owners this week," said Valerie Wilder, DNR Superfund section chief.
DNR so far has collected samples from 145 private drinking water wells; seven wells were sampled on Nov. 15; 28 wells on Nov. 19; and 110 wells Dec. 3-4.
"The Department will be resampling any well with a detection of TCE in January to verify the results," Quinn added.
Before these latest water well tests, DNR previously tested more than 70 private drinking water wells in the area and found 13 with detectable levels of TCE, including one well that showed TCE slightly above the EPA’s Maximum Contaminant Level of five parts per billion.
According to DNR, a public well system known as the County Squire Village well (a public well serving 189 people located 1.5 miles east of the Litton site) had a detection of TCE in 2010 of 0.5 parts per billion TCE, and then again in 2016 of 0.71 parts per billion.
Both levels are below EPA’s limit for drinking water and there has been no treatment system added to remove the contaminant.
However, Fantastic Caverns has begun drilling a series of vent holes near the show cave in hopes of catching TCE vapors before they reach the public areas.
Quinn, at DNR, said carbon filtration systems and reverse osmosis systems are effective at removing volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including TCE, from drinking water.

Construction is underway on a $19.5 million water treatment facility for the Bethpage Water District, as high levels of contaminants continue to spread from the former Northrop Grumman site.
The new treatment plant on Motor Lane, expected to open by late 2020, will allow the district to treat concentrated levels of volatile organic compounds heading toward its drinking water wells and do it more efficiently, District Superintendent Mike Boufis said.
It also will include a treatment system for the emerging contaminant 1,4-dioxane, a man-made chemical the state is expected to regulate this year.
The district expects the U.S. Navy to pick up the $15 million in costs for the new plant’s treatment for volatile organic contaminants, but not necessarily the $4.5 million for 1,4-dioxane, which is not yet regulated by the federal government, according to the water district and its consultant, H2M architects + engineers of Melville.
Even through fights behind closed doors with the polluters, we do what’s best for the community.
Under the agreements, the Navy and Northrop Grumman are responsible for cleaning up different areas of the plume.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation is working on a study on how to fully contain and treat the plume, which is nearly four miles long and two miles wide in the underground aquifer.
“We continue to call on Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Navy to expedite construction of the full containment and treatment system.
Humann said the plants, by treating the drinking water, also help remove contaminants from the plume, which is slowly spreading south.
A pilot system to remove 1,4-dioxane was added in 2014.

The Bethpage Water District lawsuit against Northrop Grumman Corp. hit another snag after a federal appeals court affirmed a lower ruling dismissing the case, saying the utility waited too long to seek relief over groundwater contamination.
Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said the statute of limitations ran out and Bethpage should have filed it’s 2013 lawsuit sooner.
“As a prudent water purveyor it seems like you’re penalized for taking action to protect better health.” The lawsuit, which was amended in 2015, sought an unspecified amount to cover costs of existing and future groundwater treatments to remove contamination, including volatile organic chemicals and radium.
Northrop Grumman was “pleased with the court’s ruling,” said Tim Paynter, the defense contractor’s vice president of strategic communication, in a statement.
For years, the water district has tussled with state regulators, the Navy, and Northrop Grumman over how to clean up groundwater and soil contamination traced back to the 600-acre site.
Lawyers plan to appeal for a hearing in front of all 2nd Circuit judges, rather than a three-judge panel, said Michael F. Ingham, general counsel for the Bethpage Water District At issue is when the three-year clock on claims started, according to the ruling.
Northrop Grumman asserted it was when Bethpage knew of an imminent threat and took remedial action before 2010.
“The approach advocated by the district would lead to the odd result of encouraging water providers to allow contamination to reach the wells so that a cause of action could accrue.” Ingham said the ruling runs counter to a 2013 statute-of-limitations decision out of the same court of appeals regarding contamination from the gasoline additive methyl tert-butyl ether, or MTBE.
“I have two conflicting decisions from the same circuit,” said Ingham, adding “It is not over.” Over the years the water district has spent $15 to $20 million adding treatment to its affected wells or building new well sites outside of the plume.
The district, which serves 33,000 people, is planning to move all of its well sites to areas outside of plume boundaries by 2026.