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NPL Site Narrative for Wright Ground Water Contamination
WRIGHT GROUND WATER CONTAMINATION
Wright, Kansas
Federal Register Notice: June 17, 1996Conditions at Proposal (October 1995): The Wright Ground Water Contamination site is in the City of Wright, an unincorporated town in north-central Ford County, Kansas. The site was identified in 1988, following collection and analysis of a ground water sample from a private Wright well being tested for real estate purposes. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were detected in the ground water sample and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) was notified.
KDHE collected ground water samples from several wells throughout Wright in 1989 and confirmed the ground water contamination. VOCs were detected in 16 private wells; pesticides and heavy metals were also detected in a few wells. Wright does not have a municipal water system; all water is provided by privately owned wells. Approximately 208 people in Wright are currently using water from private wells. The wells supplying 83 of these people have been shown to contain hazardous substances at concentrations above health based benchmarks. The VOCs that have been detected in private wells are: benzene, bromodichloromethane, carbon tetrachloride, chloroform, 1,2-dibromoethane, 1,2-dichloroethane, ethyl benzene, styrene, tetrachloroethylene, toluene, and trichloroethylene. In 1991, the Wright Co-op began offering bottled water to the residents of Wright and also provided several residences with whole-house filter systems. However, recent investigations have found that some of the residential wells in Wright are used without treatment systems.
Investigations at the site, including a 1990 KDHE screening site inspection and a 1994 EPA expanded site inspection, identified several potential sources of the VOCs. Several of the potential sources have been subject to more detailed investigation; however based on currently available data, the contamination detected in the private wells cannot be definitely attributed to any of these sources.
The site is believed to pose the greatest threat to ground water. There are no perennial surface water bodies within two miles of the site and it is unlikely that the hazardous substances in the ground water would be released to the air migration or the soil exposure pathways.
Status (June 1996): Currently, a remedial investigation/feasibility study is being performed. In addition, a non-time critical removal is being conducted to connect the residents of Wright to a municipal water system.
For more information about the hazardous substances identified in this narrative summary, including general information regarding the effects of exposure to these substances on human health, please see the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) ToxFAQs. ATSDR ToxFAQs can be found on the Internet at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaq.html or by telephone at 1-888-42-ATSDR or 1-888-422-8737.