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Single Source Aquifer Holds Potential Problems for Castine

April 01, 2008 - CASTINE -- The Castine Environmental Health Committee and the Castine Pesticide Committee have been sharing information on organic lawn care and pest control and the proper use, storage and disposal of hazardous materials that we all have around the house, garage or barn.

Whenever possible, a least-harmful solution has been offered for your consideration. These articles have had one goal in mind: to make you aware of the solutions that would do the least harm to our environment and our health.

We have found that the use and overuse of chemical pesticides are the biggest hazard. The recently reported study of Maine's birds concluded that the eggshells of the entire population now contain significant levels of pesticides and other environmental contaminants. Every compound tested for was found in every part of the state and at levels that might have environmental or health consequences.

But for DDT and lead, both of which the U.S. banned because of their disastrous environmental and health effects, the picture was different: their levels have dropped sharply since the last test.

Two lessons are to be leamed from this initial study: govemment action can remediate potentially disastrous use of pesticides, but inattention to their potentially harmful chemical replacements and other contaminants has allowed similar threats to the environment and wildlife to develop.

Have we learned nothing from the crisis situation that led to the establishment of the Clean Water Act and the Environmental Protection Agency a generation ago?

Even if you don't care about our wildlife or your neighbor's health, you should be concemed about your own health: specifically, the quality of the water you drink every day, the water in which you cook your food, and the water you give your pets.

All of the water on-neck in Castine comes from a single source: the lens of water that lies pooled beneath the granite fissures that absorb our groundwater and rainwater (or the groundwater that drains into the holding ponds before it gets to the aquifer). The fissures, in tum, lie beneath our topsoil, grassy lawns and gardens, as well as our roads. Once chemicals - road salt or something else - contaminate this lens of water, it can no longer be used for drinking or watering purposes. It will then be too late to reverse the pollution.

Purifying a single source aquifer of the type we have here in Castine is impossible. The town can't just drill another well because all of our water comes from a single source. Alternative sources of water on-neck would be prohibitively expensive to develop: pipes to water sources off-neck, desalinization, and trucking water from off-neck to the ponds are the only imaginable altematives.

We are all concemed about the sustained value and appreciation of our real estate, much of which has been enhanced at great expense with chemically treated lawns and gardens. But just imagine for a moment what would happen to on-neck property values if we no longer had affordable access to water. Try selling a house that doesn't have potable water from the tap! Imagine trying to sell your house with a larger tax bill to cover the high-cost alternatives to drawing water fi-om our own aquifer! And, even if you live off-neck and have your own well, just imagine the effect of the water problems on-neck, where the village businesses are, on your property values.

We are not overstating the situation but informing you of our well-researched and depressingly accurate conclusions. We in Castine have a closing window of opportunity to take precautionary action that will avoid the scenario described above. Every action that every citizen takes every day will ultimately make a difference in the quality of our lives and the value of our property.

By Jeanie Cass, member Castine Pesticide Committee, Castine Environmental Health Commtttee.

SOURCE: CASTINE PATRIOT

DATE: 03-20-2008

Lakes:
Regions: Downeast


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