Carbon Tetrachloride

High levels of a previously unseen contaminant have been found at a Fort Meade groundwater monitoring site near the border of the military post, where neighbors depend on private wells for their water, according to an Army report. The contaminant, carbon tetrachloride, was discovered in a monitoring well north of a post landfill near Routes 32 and 175. The Army recently reported finding 91 micrograms per liter of the contaminant - used as a cleaning solvent 50 to 60 years ago - in deep water aquifers there.

As taken from the pages of The Aegis dated Thursday, Sept. 13, 1962: The Bel Air town commissioners reviewed complaints from residents in the northern end of town concerning the quality of their drinking water. Northern Bel Air received water from the reservoir and the residents complained that the water coming into their homes carried an odor, was discolored, contained floating objects and had a foul taste. The commissioners requested the State Board of Health run tests in the northern part of the town and from the reservoir to determine the problems, if any, with the water system.

Federal and state environmental engineers said yesterday that they expect to have a better idea by next month how traces of a rarely used solvent turned up at a Fort Meade groundwater-monitoring site, thanks to a computer model tracking the water flow. The appearance of carbon tetrachloride in test wells was coincidental to development of the groundwater model, which has been in progress for years and will be used to help find the source of the contaminant, said Curtis DeTore, a geologist with the Maryland Department of the Environment.

The Army plans to test residential and business wells in Odenton after groundwater samples there showed elevated levels of toxic chemicals in an area adjacent to Fort Meade, officials said Monday. Mary Doyle, a spokeswoman for the Army base, said the military hopes to test all wells within one mile of a pair of monitoring wells, near the Odenton MARC station, where contaminants have been found at up to 10 times levels considered safe to drink. The testing is being done under orders from the Environmental Protection Agency, which said in a letter that the chemicals are "an unacceptable risk to human health" if they are being consumed in drinking water.

Grant Anderson is used to quizzical looks when he tells people he does modeling for a living. But the balding, bespectacled hydrogeologist isn't kidding. For five years, Anderson has been developing ground water models for the Army Corps of Engineers - complex, computer-generated formulas to determine the direction of water flow. The ground water model he's customizing for Fort Meade has been in development for more than a year. "It is a very imperfect tool," Anderson said. "But it is the best tool we have."

A chemical believed to cause cancer has been found in five private wells in a Perryman neighborhood, prompting the Harford County Health Department to recommend that the homeowners stop using the water.The department found levels of carbon tetrachloride, a volatile organic chemical, to be above the safe drinking-water limit set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in two of the wells.Woody Williams, an environmental water quality official with the Health Department, said the two wells belong to residents in the 1800 block of Perryman Road.

Hoping to determine how traces of a rarely used solvent turned up in samplings at a Fort Meade ground-water monitoring site, Army engineers are tapping into their arsenal of old military maps and aerial photos. And they're getting reinforcements from the Maryland Department of the Environment, which has diagrams of the site's aquifers and records of environmental changes at Fort Meade. On Tuesday, the sleuths plan to meet at Fort Meade to share notes and maps. State and federal officials say it might take a year to find the source of the carbon tetrachloride, a solvent commonly used years ago in dry cleaning and still used by some industries.

Neighbors of Fort Meade concerned about the discovery of a potentially toxic solvent in the area's groundwater will be given a demonstration next month of an intricate computer model that the Army hopes will help track down the source. Officials at the military base said the public's look at the model developed by the Army Corps of Engineers will show not only how experts hope to find the source, but also how "painstakingly cumbersome" the process is, according to Jim Gebhardt, Fort Meade's environmental engineer.

Hoping to determine how traces of a rarely used solvent turned up in samplings at a Fort Meade groundwater-monitoring site, Army engineers are tapping into their arsenal of old military maps and aerial photos. And they're getting reinforcements from the Maryland Department of the Environment, which has diagrams of the site's aquifers and records of environmental changes at Fort Meade. Tuesday, they sleuths plan to meet at Fort Meade to share notes and maps. State and federal officials say it might take a year to find the source of the carbon tetrachloride, a solvent commonly used years ago in dry-cleaning and spot removal, and still used by some industries.

High levels of a contaminant previously unseen in the area have been found at a Fort Meade groundwater monitoring site near the border of the military post, where neighbors depend on private wells for their water, according to an Army report. The contaminant, carbon tetrachloride, was discovered in a monitoring well north of a post landfill near Routes 32 and 175. The Army recently reported finding 91 micrograms of the contaminant per liter of water in deep aquifers there. Carbon tetrachloride was used as a cleaning solvent 50 to 60 years ago. Under federal guidelines, the maximum contaminant level of the chemical acceptable for drinking water is five micrograms per liter.

The purity of well water in southwest Odenton has again fallen into question as recent tests by state and federal regulators revealed unsafe levels of lead in the drinking water at five residences. Three weeks ago, health and environmental regulators tested water at 13 homes for two cancer-causing pollutants, which officials discovered last year in dangerous levels at a nearby aquifer under Fort Meade. The March tests at the residences turned up safe levels of the two chemicals - but uncovered high lead levels, which county health officials say are likely attributable to aging plumbing systems.

The purity of well water in southwest Odenton has again fallen into question as recent tests by state and federal regulators revealed unsafe levels of lead in the drinking water at five residences. Three weeks ago, health and environmental regulators tested water at 13 homes for two cancer-causing pollutants, which officials discovered last year in dangerous levels at a nearby aquifer under Fort Meade. The March tests at the residences turned up safe levels of the two chemicals - but uncovered high lead levels, which county health officials say are likely attributable to aging plumbing systems.

Hoping to solve the 2-year-old mystery of how several contaminants turned up in Fort Meade's ground water wells, Army officials are installing more monitoring wells near the base's boundary. Fort Meade's environmental office hopes the five wells it installed Thursday near Old Waugh Chapel Road and Piney Orchard Parkway will help determine why a well on the post documented elevated levels of benzene and polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. Benzene and PCBs are industrial chemicals that can pose a cancer risk to humans.

Hoping to solve the 2-year-old mystery of how several contaminants turned up in Fort Meade's ground water wells, Army officials are installing more monitoring wells near the base's boundary. Fort Meade's environmental office hopes the five wells it installed Thursday near Old Waugh Chapel Road and Piney Orchard Parkway will help determine why a well on the post documented elevated levels of benzene and polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. Benzene and PCBs are industrial chemicals that can pose a cancer risk to humans.

Grant Anderson is used to quizzical looks when he tells people he does modeling for a living. But the balding, bespectacled hydrogeologist isn't kidding. For five years, Anderson has been developing ground water models for the Army Corps of Engineers - complex, computer-generated formulas to determine the direction of water flow. The ground water model he's customizing for Fort Meade has been in development for more than a year. "It is a very imperfect tool," Anderson said. "But it is the best tool we have."

Neighbors of Fort Meade concerned about the discovery of a potentially toxic solvent in the area's groundwater will be given a demonstration next month of an intricate computer model that the Army hopes will help track down the source. Officials at the military base said the public's look at the model developed by the Army Corps of Engineers will show not only how experts hope to find the source, but also how "painstakingly cumbersome" the process is, according to Jim Gebhardt, Fort Meade's environmental engineer.

Hoping to solve the 2-year-old mystery of how several contaminants turned up in Fort Meade's ground water wells, Army officials are installing more monitoring wells near the base's boundary. Fort Meade's environmental office hopes the five wells it installed Thursday near Old Waugh Chapel Road and Piney Orchard Parkway will help determine why a well on the post documented elevated levels of benzene and polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. Benzene and PCBs are industrial chemicals that can pose a cancer risk to humans.

Hoping to solve the 2-year-old mystery of how several contaminants turned up in Fort Meade's ground water wells, Army officials are installing more monitoring wells near the base's boundary. Fort Meade's environmental office hopes the five wells it installed Thursday near Old Waugh Chapel Road and Piney Orchard Parkway will help determine why a well on the post documented elevated levels of benzene and polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. Benzene and PCBs are industrial chemicals that can pose a cancer risk to humans.

Federal and state environmental engineers said yesterday that they expect to have a better idea by next month how traces of a rarely used solvent turned up at a Fort Meade groundwater-monitoring site, thanks to a computer model tracking the water flow. The appearance of carbon tetrachloride in test wells was coincidental to development of the groundwater model, which has been in progress for years and will be used to help find the source of the contaminant, said Curtis DeTore, a geologist with the Maryland Department of the Environment.

Hoping to determine how traces of a rarely used solvent turned up in samplings at a Fort Meade ground-water monitoring site, Army engineers are tapping into their arsenal of old military maps and aerial photos. And they're getting reinforcements from the Maryland Department of the Environment, which has diagrams of the site's aquifers and records of environmental changes at Fort Meade. On Tuesday, the sleuths plan to meet at Fort Meade to share notes and maps. State and federal officials say it might take a year to find the source of the carbon tetrachloride, a solvent commonly used years ago in dry cleaning and still used by some industries.