12/05/2017 Release from Friends of Nelson:
Some 20 households in Horizons Village near Nellysford in Nelson County, Virginia, will be testing their groundwater quality to gather baseline data suitable for legal action if and when the construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline begins. The proposed pipeline route goes through the residential village.
The purpose of the testing is to document how clean the residents’ drinking water is to allow a comparison to any later contamination from activities related to the pipeline’s construction or operation. Other testing projects to establish baselines on surface water in the village and elsewhere are underway, according to Lisa Lefferts, a resident of Horizons Village who holds a Master of Science in Public Health degree.
“Ideally we want to test for anything that could possibly contaminate our water as a result of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Unfortunately, there are many unknowns. For example, we don’t know what specific blasting agents or herbicides might be used, if any. Water is called ‘the universal solvent’ because it dissolves more substances than any other liquid, and we cannot test for everything; there are practical and cost constraints,” Lefferts said.
The testing project will cover a list of 87 parameters, ranging from coliform and fecal coliform bacteria to inorganic metals such as arsenic, lead and mercury, and organic chemicals such as benzene and toluene. The project will also offer optional testing for dissolved methane/ethane and possibly glyphosphate at an additional cost to the homeowner. Natural gas, which the ACP would carry, is primarily methane and to a lesser extent ethane.
The cost of testing for the 87 parameters listed by Lefferts is a group rate of $250 per sample. Testing for dissolved methane/ethane and glyphosphate will each add as about $150 to that cost.
NBC29.com – The Friends of Nelson – 12.05.2017
Posted by: Nelson Bailey
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