PCB-contaminated deposit exposed in Rochester; well water threatened

ROCHESTER, Ind. – The EPA is testing water and soil samples near a pit where a contractor disturbed a chemical deposit tainted with PCBs, which now poses a threat to well water.\nA contractor digging a pit for a sewer pumping station dug through a layer of clay soil Thursday and exposed a mixture of water and a petroleum-based chemical. Preliminary results showed that the mixture tested positive for PCBs, a liquid coolant banned by the federal government in 1977 that’s classified as a probable cause of cancer.\nThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has conducted extensive soil and water testing from the site near Lake Bruce in Rochester, about 40 miles south of South Bend.\nThe agency expects to receive test results later this week, a state official said.\n“We’re trying to determine whether it’s just right there or if it’s gone beyond the area around the excavations,” said Amy Hartsock, a spokeswoman for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.\nThe pit is on a former Chesapeake and Ohio railbed that the Lake Bruce Conservancy District purchased from CSX. Construction of the sewer has been halted while the testing continues.\nAnd since Friday, when Fulton County health officials issued a no-well-water-use order, between 80 and 100 residents on the lake’s southwest side have been unable to use their tap water for laundry, bathing or consumption.\nDana Gilbert, who lives about a block west of the construction site, said her family is showering at relatives’ homes for now and washing clothes at a coin laundry.\nShe’s bought 10-gallon water jugs that she refills at a grocery.\n“We use about 10 to 15 gallons a day,” Gilbert said. “When you use it, you think, I hope this water’s OK. It’s hassling. I went to town today and got 10 gallons.”