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\ PR0^° Nebraska	August 2004

5S&-7	Fact Sheet

Sample Results Being Sent to Homeowners

River Valley Ground Water Contamination Site, North Platte, Nebraska

INTRODUCTION

The U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) Region 7 was in the
North Platte community sampling private
drinking water wells during the week of
June 21, 2004. This sampling was part
of a removal assessment that looked for
volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
EPA worked closely with the state of
Nebraska and the City of North Platte to
conduct this effort.

The area sampled covered most of
the city of North Platte. Sample results
showed most of the private drinking
water wells were clear of any
contamination. However, some wells
showed high levels of VOCs. This area
is generally north of 4th Street (Hwy 30)
and east of Popular Street (Hwy 83),
extending out to the city limits on the
north and east.

EPA will send the results of
laboratory testing of these samples to all
residents that were sampled. For
residents who have wells with VOCs in
excess of the EPA Safe Drinking Water
Act maximum contaminant level, EPA
will work with the city, state, and the
homeowner to determine the best
strategy for preventing exposure to the
contamination.

In addition, EPA will conduct a
second sampling effort in the area
where contamination was found to
determine whether or not other
residences have been impacted.

SUPERFUND PROGRAM

Congress established the Superfund
program in 1980 in response to growing
concerns over human health and
environmental risks posed by hazardous
waste sites. Superfund locates,
investigates and cleans up hazardous
waste sites.

SITE BACKGROUND

A Nebraska Department of Health
public water supply sampling program
(1988) initially detected volatile organic
compound (VOC) contamination in some
of the seventeen municipal wells that serve
the City of North Platte. Since then,
several VOCs have been identified in
groundwater samples collected during
subsequent site investigations, including
an EPA investigation in 2002. That
investigation confirmed the detection of
PCE in soil at one location, and that the
groundwater had been impacted by VOC
contamination beneath the site.

The chemicals present at the site
include tetrachloroethene (PCE),
trichloroethene (TCE), and other VOCs.
PCE and TCE are the only VOCs to have
been detected above EPA Safe Drinking
Water Act maximum contaminant level.

CURRENT INVESTIGATIONS

The focus of the June sampling effort
was on private wells, as opposed to the
municipal wells that were been sampled in
the past. The sampling was intended to

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determine whether or not the
contamination found in the municipal
wells previously has also occurred in
private drinking water wells.

Since the sampling results showed
contamination in several private drinking
water wells, EPA will work with City
officials to ensure that citizens are
protected from exposure to this
contamination. In addition, a second
sampling effort will be conducted to find
additional private drinking water wells
that may be contaminated, and to
determine the extent of the
contamination in the area previously
sampled.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

If you live in the general area, have
a private well on your property that you
drink from, and want to have it sampled,
please contact:

Beckie Himes

Community Involvement Coordinator
U.S. EPA
901 N. 5th Street
Kansas City, Kansas 66101
Phone: 913/551-7003 or
Toll free: 1-800-223-0425
himes.beckie@epa.gov

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