Aquifer Pollution On Agenda

State and federal officials will discuss contamination in the aquifer Wednesday evening at the Coeur d’Alene City Hall.

The public meeting will run from 6 to 8 p.m.

The Environmental Protection Agency and the Idaho Division of Environmental Quality recently completed investigations of a plume of trichloroethylene (TCE) in the aquifer under the city. That plume is moving toward Post Falls and Spokane, although the plume may be diluted as it moves.

TCE was found in the city’s Hanley Avenue well in 1992. Last spring, tests showed it exceeding the federal limit for the first time.

It will have to exceed federal limits for a year before the well cannot be used for drinking water. In 1992, state officials closed two wells at the Sunrise Terrace housing development because TCE levels were too high. TCE is a common degreaser and dry cleaning fluid. It is a suspected human carcinogen.