This is an argument paper that I had to write for my final grade in a college writing class that I took in 2012 (the year of the drought). Some of the links may be dried up now...but if you type in some of the key words in your search engine you can find the sources.
Does Greensburg Need An Additional Water Source?
Margaret Jean Johannigman
Ivy Tech Community College
Abstract
Information in the following article will substantiate the theory that Greensburg and Decatur County would in fact greatly benefit from having an additional source of water to their two current sources of the Flatrock River and an underground aquifer that is located here in Decatur County.
This information is explored from the questioning of the quantity of water and the health perspective of the current sources to show the benefits that could be realized in obtaining an additional source of water for Greensburg and Decatur County.
Water recently resurfaced as an issue to be discussed for our area with the location of the Honda plant in our backyard. So much so that the State of Indiana Legislature initiated a regional water discussion and board through legislation. While this board has interviewed each City and County in the three county district entailed by this board and come to the conclusion that everyone is covered in their water needs, this article intends to show why Greensburg is not set for it’s future needs and why it could also realize immediate benefits from having an additional water source especially from a health perspective.
This paper will take the intended audience, which are the citizens and elected officials of the City of Greensburg and Decatur County through the process of identifying what our current sources of water are, what the quantity of water indicates, the impending hazards that threaten these water sources, and how we as a City and County could benefit and insure our future by having an additional water source.
While elected officials rely on professional analysis to make these decisions, those same professionals relied on by the elected officials are often coveting the stance which will bring them the most future business for their firm instead of what is truly the best decision to be made on behalf of the constituents. This article is not questioning the decisions that have been made from the perspective of saying that the decisions made were wrong….only that better decisions could have been made for the investment of the funds involved and the safety of the communities water sources for future needs.
Instead of obtaining a new and additional water source for the funds that were invested, the elected officials chose merely to enlarge and take more water off of the current sources. The repeated question is whether this was the best choice for the advancement on all levels for our community as a whole.
DOES GREENSBURG NEED AN ADDITIONAL WATER SOURCE?
Most people never question their water needs as long as the water continues to flow from their faucet and seems in acceptable condition. Is our water situation really acceptable? The objective of the writing of this paper is to raise the awareness of the citizens as well as the elected officials of Greensburg and Decatur County to the concept that our community would indeed benefit from having an additional water source. This paper will walk the reader through what our current sources of water are, how they are obtained, what the impending threats are to these water sources and to the people of this community, and what benefits may be reaped through pursuing an additional water source.
There are two sources of water that will be discussed in this writing and they are surface water and ground water through an aquifer.
Let’s discuss surface water first. Surface water is currently the primary source of water for the City of Greensburg , IN. Surface water is described in the following link as “water in rivers, lakes, oceans and so on”.
imnh.isu.edu/digitalatlas/hydr/concepts/surfhyd/srfwtr.htm Our source of surface water comes from the Flatrock River and is deposited in the reservoir north of town for settling and pumping needs. While the reservoir supports extending the quantity of water by storing more of it as it is captured, the Flatrock river itself has been witnessed to be dry enough that you can walk across it in time of drought. The Flatrock River is also located in close proximity to interstate 74 and is subject to the possibility of contamination with the overturning of any trucks carrying hazardous materials on the interstate.
Runoff of water to the surface water source is extremely important when considering potential contaminates. The following link expresses how the type of soil can provide more run off.
imnh.isu.edu/digitalatlas/hydr/concepts/surfhyd/srfwtr.htmClay is one of those types of soil that provides greater run off of the water into the stream rather than the water soaking into the soil (which is a method of filtering) and then obtaining access to the stream. Clay is the primary soil of Decatur County. Runoff of water is important from the perspective of turbidity of the water, leaves, farm chemicals and even in some cases dead carcasses of animals that affect the amount of treatment needed to make the water potable. All of the possible and potential surface contaminants make the treatment of surface water more expensive to treat than the groundwater sources (which are naturally filtered by the soil) in our area.
When extensive treatment of water is needed, especially with Chlorine, this procedure can raise the level of carcinogenic byproducts of this chemical treatment. One of these carcinogenic byproducts are trihalomethanes also referred to as TTHM’s. What are TTHM’s?
“Trihalomethanes (TTHM’s) are a byproduct of the water treatment process. They are formed when natural organic material, such as the decaying vegetation commonly found in lakes and reservoirs, reacts with chlorine used to treat the water. This reaction produces “disinfection by-products,” the most common of which are TTHM”S.”
www.valleywater.org/Services/Trihalomethanes.aspx What are the health risks associated with TTHM’s? “Potential health effects from ingestion of TTHMs in water include liver, kidney and central nervous system problems, as well as an increased risk of cancer.”
www.mass.gov/dep/water/drinking/standards/tthms.htm What are the accepted levels of TTHM’s in our potable water? As quoted in the article in the provided link: “ the MCL of 0.08 mg/L was set based on the potential for an increased risk of these health effects (US EPA , 1998).”
www.mass.gov/dep/water/drinking/standards/tthms.htm How is the pursuit of information in regards to the level of TTHMs relevant in relation to the writing of this article? It factors in when the water report that is provided by the City of Greensburg to their users is only based on a yearly basis and shows the TTHM amounts within safe limits. This report is in safe limits of TTHMs primarily because this is a yearly report. Over a years time, the TTHM’s factor out to safe limits. There are however certain times of the year, for instance when more rain takes place, that the TTHM’s rise substantially and are out of the safe bounds as determined by the US EPA. In observation of the first regional water meeting a representative from IDEM (Indiana Department of Environmental Management) supplied a chart showing that in the fourth quarter of 2007 the TTHM levels on the three areas tested were: 81, 84 and 76.6.. Then the same chart shows in the third quarter of 2008 levels of 100.9, 105.1 and 89.7. There is a scanned copy of this IDEM report behind the references sheet of this essay.
Many people do not realize that the effects of TTHM’s, while not as impacting, can also be felt in ways other than drinking the water. According to the following linked article: “TTHMs can evaporate and be inhaled while showering, however the EPA has determined that this exposure is minimal compared to that of consumption.”
www.valleywater.org/Services/Trihalomethanes.aspx Next for discussion is Greensburg and Decatur County’s second primary source of water. This second source of water is an aquifer that is one of two aquifers located in Decatur County.
First of all, what is an aquifer? According to the following linked article: “An aquifer is a body of saturated rock through which water can easily move. Aquifers must be both permeable and porous and include such rock types as sandstone, conglomerate, fractured limestone, and unconsolidated sand and gravel. In order for a well to be productive, it must be drilled into an aquifer. A well is a hole drilled into the ground to penetrate an aquifer. Normally such water must be pumped to the surface. If water is pumped from a well faster than it is replenished, the water table is lowered and the well may go dry. When water is pumped from a well, the water table is generally lowered into a cone of depression at the well. Groundwater normally flows down the slope of the water table towards the well.”
imnh.isu.edu/digitalatlas/hydr/concepts/gwater/aquifer.htmOne of the concerns with our aquifer is the over-pumping of this aquifer. There is personal testimony from a resident who lives in the county, that during a major drought, the City of Greensburg over-pumped the aquifer and dried up many of the county resident’s wells during this process. This event was prior to Honda locating in our community. Why is the over pumping of this aquifer (pre-Honda) a point of concern? For the following reasons as stated in this article: “What are the effects of Groundwater depletion? Lowering of the water table, increased costs for the user, reduction of water in streams and lakes, land subsidence (which is described as loss of support below ground. In other words, sometimes when water is taken out of the soil, the soil collapses, compacts, and drops.”
ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/gwdepletion.htmlAre there other indications that our aquifer might be considered limited prior to Honda locating here and in addition to the personal testimony received from a local resident? Yes there is. In the following link it talks about the two aquifer systems located in Decatur County. This article states: “ Two bedrock systems are identified for Decatur County. They are, from east to west and younger to older: the Silurian and Devonian Carbonates and the Maquoketa Group of Ordovician age. Bedrock aquifers are not highly productive in this county. However, bedrock wells represent 75% of all wells completed in this county. Wells completed in the Silurian and Devonian Carbonates Aquifer system are generally capable of meeting the needs of domestic users and some high-capacity users in this county. However, several dry holes have been reported. There are two registered significant ground-water withdrawal facilities (total of 9 wells) using bedrock aquifers in the county. All of these wells tap the Silurian and Devonian Carbonates Aquifer system including one well that also has a contribution from the Maquoketa Group Aquifer System. “
www.in.gov/dnr/water/files/decatur_bedrock_text.pdf The City of Greensburg as part of their 5.2 million dollar water improvement plan to take more water from the current sources is seeking to drill several additional wells into this aquifer system. All of their current wells as is noted in the following link come from the one primary , limited, aquifer.
www.in.gov/dnr/water/files/decatur_highcap_table.pdf It has been acknowledged in the previously listed information that over-pumping an aquifer can have some quite serious repercussions. The above links state that there is only one of the two aquifers that are located in Decatur County that has the capability to provide “some” commercial use. This statement was made prior to Honda locating in Decatur County. From the accumulated information it would be progressive to consider the possibility that there is a potential real danger of over pumping this aquifer yet again. If in the future the economic climate changes and the economic development that has been lost in this area comes back , there is every reason to believe that we could over-pump this aquifer again and in a much more serious manner. The only reason that we have not experienced this so far is because Delta Faucet a major consumer of water in our area has moved their manufacturing facilities out of our county and as is indicative of the current financial woes of our country, many other factories have followed suit. This has remedied our potential for the problem of having enough water short term.
Now lets look at this major water supplying aquifer from the potential of health risks. This link shows the location of these two major aquifers.
www.in.gov/dnr/water/images/decatur_bedrock.gifRemember the major supplier that supplies the majority of ground water to the City of Greensburg is the Silurian and Devonian Carbonate system (SDC) which is also the vast majority of wells out in the county.
On the above link, note that the map can be enlarged to show this short 3 mile section of road called 280 East. This is the location of the Decatur County Landfill.
What does the report of the Council on Science and Public health say about locating landfills near aquifers? “Because the hydrogeologic setting of the landfill is a component of the landfill system, this factor is arguably more important when the hydrogeological setting is near or connected to an aquifer that supplies a public water system.”
www.ama-assn.org/resources/doc/csaph/csaph4a07-fulltext.pdf The current landfill is also the site of a previously closed landfill. When this landfill was closed twenty years ago, there was contamination registed in some of the wells at that time. In the closing of the landfill the leachate is pumped to the City of Greensburg and treated and then dispersed on the farm fields in the surrounding countryside. While this all sounds great., let’s ask some pertinent questions….what are the effects to the runoff of the surface water of dispersing this chemically treated leachate on the ground and it running into our surface water supplies? Better yet, let’s look at the effects of the closed landfill on the major aquifer that supplies water to the City of Greensburg. There is by law a liner in place to “capture” the leachate. What is the “life” of these liners? According to the following linked article: “ Liners and their protection systems have a limited lifetime, and according to one estimate, may crack or leak after as little as a few decades, depending on environmental conditions and on the waste contained within the system. Generally, it is accepted that landfills, and their components, will degrade and cease to be functional after a period of time. The EPA’s position on landfill liner longevity has been summarized as follows:
“Eventually synthetic liners will degrade and leachate collection systems will cease operation …[N]o liner can be expected to remain impervious forever. As a result of interactions with waste, environmental effects, installation problems, and operating practices, liners eventually may degrade, tear, or crack and allow liquids to mirgrate out of the unit…..[T]hese technologies (double liners and leachate collection systems) may not effectively reduce the loner-term risk for landfills, especially for persistent and mobile compounds, because the containment system may only delay leachate release from the landfill until after post-closure, when the cap and leachate system begin to fail.”
www.ama-assn.org/resources/doc/csaph/csaph4a07-fulltext.pdf In light of all the above information, here is some testimony that was witnessed at a County Planning Commission meeting where the residents around the landfill were protesting the expansion of the landfill based on their personal observations. The adjacent property owners stated that on this three mile stretch of road that the dump is on , in the last three years, there have been seven individuals that have died of cancer during that period. The residents brought out that the monitoring of the wells that is reported to the State is performed by the employees of the landfill and then sent into the State of Indiana for analysis. That is kind of like the fox guarding the henhouse in my opinion.
Now let’s look at a link that provides the State Cancer profiles county by county.
statecancerprofiles.cancer.gov/cgi-bin/ratetrendbycancer/rtcancer.pl?047&0&18&00&1&0&1 This is an interactive link. Try plugging in the information for all types of cancer, for all races, both sexes for Decatur County , Indiana. According to this site, Decatur county rates above the US rate for cancer. Our county is not only above the US rate for cancer, our county is stabilized at being above the US average for cancer in Decatur County.
Fully acknowledging that there are various causes of cancers and of specific types of cancer, it must also be acknowledged that water is a staple of our very existence. If our water supply is in question, especially with the high incidence of cancer in our area, this should be at the very minimum thoroughly checked out.
Many people take the attitude of what you don’t know will not hurt you. The trouble is, the people who do care, know. It is as easy for them to check out this information as it has been for the writing of this article. Water not only affects our health, its abundance or lack thereof affects the desire of businesses to locate here. It not only affects the businesses locating here but the residents that we desire to come and live here and be part of our tax base. Many potential business and residential opportunities, because of our quality of life issues will expand their business here and choose to live in surrounding communities as a result of decisions like this that are made.
Extremely active debate on this issue has taken place with public officials both verbally, and in an opinion article that I wrote for the Greensburg Daily news called the “Humble Rumble”. The following are some of the reasons that the City gave for not pursing another source of water. The reader can decide if our elected officials methology of thinking “holds water”.
The City when invited to be a part of the regional water pursuit said according to studies they have had performed that their quantity of water was substantial for 15 years or so. This of course is based on the fact that we have lost many factories in this process before their study was done.
The City of Greensburg also stated that they could process their water cheaper than purchasing water from an already treated source. While this is likely true of the ground water, it would not be a true statement for surface water as it is much more costly to treat than ground water. Quarry this question: what is the value of water if a supply is limited and questionable as to the contamination?
What is the “value” of water and investing in it? This article states the following: “If you are thirsting for an interesting investment , you might want to think about water. Investing in the precious resource could prove very lucrative over the next decade as it’s use in consumption, agriculture, sanitation and industrial production surges. Why invest in water? It’s a natural resource that has a limited supply and no true substitute. As the economies of developing nations continues to improve, water use is expected to increase. To meet the coming demand, some analysts project the world may need to spend as much as $1 trillion per year through 2030 applying technologies to conserve water, maintain and replace water-related infrastructure and to construct sanitations systems.”
www.dailyfinance.com/2010/04/22/investing-in-water-could-pour-on-the-returns/ Considering the worldview on water, and also taking into account the potential possible threats that have been detailed to our current and local water supplies, pursuing another water source would be a great idea. Since you can’t make more of a limited quantity, where would this new source of water come from? There is a source located at Taylorsville, that is piped all the way to Hartsville , Indiana. This source goes under the name of Eastern Bartholomew Water and they have made it quite clear they would be willing to sell water to Decatur County. The TTHM count on this water (whose source is a huge aquifer) according to IDEM is 11. The water would already be treated and would only need a slight chlorine treatment along the line if and only if it sits in the line too long without being utilized. Since this source is already in the Hartsville area, it would be quite easy to run the line to bring this water source to Greensburg in the right of way of highway 46. The costs have never been negotiated but would have been eligible for some of the grants that the State was offering in the regional water pursuit. Eastern Bartholomew water also had Federal grants lined up to bring this source to Decatur County so there would have been no up-front costs of infrastructure incurred.
The real test for the City of Greensburg and Decatur County will arise if this economy ever turns around and we gain back the industry that has been lost. There were studies supporting the need for additional water sources for this region prior to Honda ever being dreamed of. Have we painted our community into a very temporary, costly, and questionably un- healthy source in increasing our water supply off of the current sources? There is plenty of information provided in this article to reasonably question that our leadership may in fact have done just that. Water is the most basic of all needs and with discussions being held all over the globe of the “value” of water, are our decision makers using a mentality of forward thinking in the decisions that have been made concerning our water sources for this county? Is planning for 15 years into our future long term enough when other communities are planning 50 to 100 years ahead? Yes, the water is still running through all of the faucets for the citizens of Greensburg and Decatur County but what if tomorrow that truck does overturn on the interstate? What is causing the high rates of cancer in our county? Should our dump be located and expanded over one of our major underground water sources? What is the value of another water source when contemplating future economic development of our area? What is the value of an abundant, healthy water source as it relates to your own personal needs? Hopefully the writing of this article and the questions raised will propel our community to come together and take a serious look at obtaining that additional water source while it is still attainable.
References
Department of Natural Resources, & Schrader, G. P. (2006, March). Bedrock Aquifer Systems of Decatur County, Indiana (MAP)
. Retrieved from http://www.in.gov.////_bedrock.gif
Department of Natural Resources (DNR). (n.d.). Registered Significant Groundwater Withdrawal Facilities in Decatur County, Indiana [Shows a chart of the significant groundwater withdrawals for Decatur County]. Retrieved from www.in.gov////_highcap_tablepdf.
Digital Atlas of Idaho. (2001). What is Surface Water [information on what is consdered a surface water source].
Digital Atlas of Idaho materials, Groundwater resources info., Welhan, J., Dr., Harvey, J., staff member., Taube, V., Staff Member., & Boyack, D., Staff member. (n.d.). What is an Aquifer? [Explains what an Aquifer is.]. Retrieved from Digital Atlas of Idaho website:
imnh.isu.edu/////ifer.htmKahn, M. K., MD, PHD Chair., & Kanof, E. P., MD, Chair. (2007). Report of the Council on Science and Public Health [Expansion of Hazardous Waste Landfills over Aquifers]. Retrieved from
www.ama-assn.org////a07-fulltext.pdfMassachusetts Dept. Of Environmental Protection, & US EPA. (1998). Current regulatory Limit: Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM’s) [TTHM’s legal limits and health risks]. Retrieved from
www.mass.gov/////.htmNational Cancer Institute. (2012, March 12). State Cancer Profiles [Shows where our county ranks in cancer as compared to the national average.]. Retrieved from
statecancerprofiles.cancer.gov/bin//.pl?047&0&18&00&1&0&1Santa Clara Valley Water District. (2012). Frequently asked questions on Trihalomethanes [describes what TTHM’s are and repercussions]. Retrieved from http://www.valleyhttp://www.mass.gov/////.htmwater.org//alomethanes.aspx
Santa Clara Valley Water District. (2012). Frequently asked questions on Trihalomethanes (TTHMs) [Information on Trihalomethanes].
Schrader, G. P., & Division of Water, Resource Assessment Section. (2006, March). Bedrock Aquifer Systems of Decatur County, Indiana [information about the type and location of all aquifers located in Decatur County Indiana]. Retrieved from
www.in.gov////_bedrock_text.pdfScott, M. (2010, April 22). Investing in Water Could Pour on the Returns [information about the value of financial investment in water].
USGS fact sheet 103-03, & USGS circular 1186. (2003, November). Groundwater Depletion [Information about the effects of over-pumping an aquifer].
Anonymous. (2011). Meeting discussion. Personal Witness of events. presented at Decatur County area Plan meeting and personal interview.
Johannigman, J. (2008, November 24). The Humble Rumble -Water a Life-Giving Source [Editorial]. Greensburg Daily News, web link. Retrieved from
greensburgdailynews.com///NS-THE-HUMBLE-RUMBLE-Water-A-Life-Giving-Source/ 
