EPA adds wells at Deep Creek

The Environmental Protection Agency is drilling four new monitoring wells in the Deep Creek area west of Spokane in an ongoing effort to isolate the source of groundwater contamination near the site of a Cold War-era anti-aircraft missile battery.

“We wanted to get a better picture before we decided what our next steps were,” said Calvin Terada, project manager for the agency.

Terada was on site Tuesday as a crew drilled northwest of a well near Wood and Euclid roads in which the solvent trichloroethylene, or TCE, was first discovered in late 2004. Since then, TCE, which is a carcinogen, has been found in four other private wells, some at levels above federal drinking water standards.

The chemical, once commonly used as an engine degreaser by the U.S. military, also has been found in four EPA test wells drilled in the vicinity of a former Nike Missile Battery 87, which was in operation in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

After confirming the presence of TCE, the EPA tested for two chemicals associated with solid rocket fuel. Perchlorate, known to disrupt thyroid function, has been found at very low levels in 114 wells in the area. Low levels of N-nitrosodimethylamine, or NDMA, a probable carcinogen, have been found in 43 wells, according to a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers report released in July.

The report, a summary of an investigation into past military activities in the area, found no evidence linking the missile battery to the groundwater contamination. The corps cannot spend Defense Department funds on environmental spills without first establishing a clear link to a military source.

Terada said he hoped the wells being drilled Wednesday would help identify a contamination source. Sampling will begin Friday and results should be back in about three weeks.

“If we don’t get anything from these wells, we’re back to square one,” he said.