Colonial Pipeline extends our appreciation to the Town of Huntersville for inviting us to provide an update on our response and remediation activities at the Tuesday, September 8, Huntersville Board of Commissioners Meeting.
We remain committed to our response priorities – the safety of people, environmental protection, respect for community assets, and communication. Colonial remains steadfast in our response priorities and to sharing information with residents, regulators, and the broader public on an ongoing basis.
Environmental Update
We want to assure the Huntersville community that, at this time, all data has indicated no detections of petroleum compounds in residential water wells. Colonial continues to prioritize health, safety and environmental protection, and we are working to ensure residential drinking water remains unaffected.
As of Wednesday, September 9, 2020, Colonial has installed 39 monitoring wells. Monitoring wells are not used for potable water. They are specifically installed as part of the response process to monitor and remove product, if any is encountered. These wells also allow us to monitor any migration of the release to collect data and provide information for our recovery/clean-up plans. We refer to these wells as “our eyes underground.”
If Colonial encounters product in a monitoring well, product recovery begins immediately in an effort to control and limit any further migration. We have installed 22 recovery wells to date. As with monitoring wells, recovery wells are not used for potable water.
In addition, surface water sampling continues to be conducted weekly and after any storm events. No petroleum compounds have been detected in any surface water samples.
Commitment to Community
Colonial remains committed to the health and safety of residents, and we continue to work towards ensuring residential drinking water remains unaffected. A third round of residential well sampling was completed last week for homes within a 1,500-foot radius of the release site. No petroleum compounds have been detected in any water well samples to date.
Nevertheless, as a proactive measure, we have offered to connect residents within the 1,500-foot radius who have active water wells to the public water system and to pay for the costs associated with doing so. We are not required by NCDEQ or any other government or regulatory agency to take this step, however, it is consistent with our proactive and conservative response to the incident, as well as with our Company values and our commitment to the community. Landowners who have been offered the opportunity to connect to public water are free to decline the offer. If they do so, Colonial will continue to monitor and test their residential water wells, at no cost to the homeowners, for the foreseeable future.
Next Steps
Environment: Colonial is supplementing our current recovery systems with additional technologies.
Community Commitment: Colonial is committed to continuing to work with residents within the 1,500-foot radius of the release site to address their concerns.
Initial Abatement Report: Colonial is also working with NCDEQ to develop and submit an Initial Abatement Report, Site Assessment Report, and a Corrective Action Plan. We will also submit a 30-day update report to Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
For additional information on Colonial’s response efforts, please visit our FAQs section, which we continue to update periodically in follow-up to questions received.
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