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Spanish

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Fork Plant

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-· ug11st18, 1997

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As ou are p , _
aware, for some ti,11eno The E:nsign-Bickford
Company
(EBCo) (fc,r,i1erl Tro·an Co ra ·on) has been perfo11oi
'ng a hydrogeologic
ap e o area. The purpose of this investigation is to
invtstigation in the auis - Fo .
evaluate the . . . · o gro d
in e area that.111ay have been a frected b historic
,1,an11fac:t11,
ing operationsat the EBCo site and o ,deve op po ential sb:atcgies.to assist m
e ~lean- o groun ,.,t:13ter
· _ · may ha e - n itrtpacted from - --si e operations.
·ty (D Q) an
·-!'bis -or. is - ing re -·e. - _by e tah Division of atet rking c operativey wi · e D Q in this effort.
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pe110

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wi1ersare
- earch

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co11tacus 11-111n-

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P.0 Box 310 S anis Fo
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P

e:,ao,1. 79e-as3
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The follov,ing compounds have been detected in area gro,1nd 'Nat ·r:

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Explosiv~

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The Ensign-BickfordCompany is in the business of m;aking explosives for
,,,ioino;lavalanche safety, and explorationapplicatio,ns·. E.a"Cplosives
have be .n
t11an11fucttJ<
ed at the site since-the 1940's, and over that period of ti 111ea variety of

demand. The :Followingexplosive compounds,have been detected m area ground ·
water at extremely low concentrations:
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There are no £ederalor state d, inking water s~a,ndards for these explosive
the DWQand DivisionofD1iokiog
compounds. As a conse1vativemeas1.1ce,
W,ater are using a federal health advisory of 2 µg/1 a, ts per billion.or ppb) for .
the lifetirx1e
(70 yea,s) conSt1rnption
of watercontaining X. Because · ·.Xis
present whenever the o,ther explosive compoundshave been detected in ground ·
V1atersa,nples, and beca1iseof the state's use of the conservative Health Advisory
Standar,t,compliancewith the X healthadvisory is felt to be protective of
h11rr1
,an health and the enviroo1r1entWells in the a, ca>where . · X ·. been
detectc:d,01,rently·_
have · X concentrationstanging from less than 1 µ to
approxir11ately
22 µ
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Nitta_tes may, in p be present in groundwater as a result of the historic · ·
,,,anagementof nitric acid as part of the expl9sivemanufacttlt'ingprocess•
constituent of fe1tiJizersand are found in anirual
Nitrates are also a cora1:non
wastes (i.e. feedlots,, 1t1anure)and h11,,1an es septic fields . Nitrates can also
be found in naa1tally occ11crii1g
geo~ogicdeposits,some of which are apparently
located in Hobble Creek Canyon. The federaland state dt inking \t.,aterstan, . d
for nitrate-nitrogenis 10 mg/I (patrsper millionor ppm).,The highest·nitrate-nitrogen concentrationcurrentlypresent in wellsthat we routinelysarnple is 21
ma . Manyof the wells · ··we sa,1,plehave nitrate-nitrogenconcentrations that
are near or belowthe 10 m stan cl
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We are activelypiiLs11ing
a clean-upplan·.. · ·.·improve\Vaterq ·..·ty throu
the captureand removalof i:mpacted. tmd,vaterfromaffectedaq • ers.. Clean-up .· 1
be facilitatedby the pt1ropingof recoverywells,corurxionly
referredto,as '·'p,itopand treat
technology". Recoverywellsare currentlybeingconstructedin areason, ·Orcloseto, the

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The follo~ing compounds have been detected in area ground water :

Explos ives
The Ensign-Bickford Company is in the business of making explos ives for
mining, avalanche safety, and exploration applications. Explosives have been
manufactured at the site since the 1940' s, and over that period of time a variety of
products have been manufactured as a result of changing technologies and
demand. The following explosive compounds have been detected in area ground

water at extremely low concentrations:
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RDX, ~EGON,

DEGON,TEGDN,PETN,TME1N,BTIN,TNT

There are no federal or state drinking water standardsfor these explosive
compounds. As a conservative measure,the DWQ and Division of Drinking
Water are using a federal health advisory of 2 µg/1 (parts per billion or ppb) for .
the lifetime (70 years) consumptionof water containingRDX. BecauseRDX is
present whenever the other explosive compoundshave been detectedin ground ·
water samples, and because of the state's use of the conservativeHealth Advisory
Standard, compliance with the ROX health advisoryis felt to be protectiveof
human health and the environment Wells in the area, where RDX has been
detected, currently-_have RDX concentrationsranging from less than 1 µg/1to
approximately 22 µg/1.
Nitrate-nitrogen .
Nitrates may, in part, be present in groundwater as a result of the historic land
management of nitric acid as part of the explqsivemanufacturingprocess.
Nitrates are also a common c~:mstituent
of fertilizersand are found in animal
wastes (i.e. feedlots, manure) and human wastes(septic fields). Nitrates can also
be found in naturally occurring geologicdeposits,some of which are apparently
located in Hobble Creek Canyon. The federaland state drinking water standard
for nitrate-nitrogen is 10 mg/1(parts per millionor ppm). The highest'oitrater:iitrogenconcentration currently present in wells that we routinely sampleis 21
mg/1. Many of the wells that we sample have nitrate-nitrogenconcentrationsthat
are near or below the 10 mg/1standard.
We are actively pursuing a clean-up plan that will improvewater quality through
the capture and removal of i:m,pactedground water from affected aquifers. Clean-upwill
be facilitated by the pwnping of recovery wells, commonlyreferred to as "pump and treat
technology". Recovery wells are currently being constructedin areas on, or close to, the

 plant site. At this· time, we do not know how man
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clean-up the area; however, we will learn more
first phase of wells. We are presently evaluating methods

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the

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water th at 1s emg removed from the ground. ·

that can be used t

o manage

the

We are also working with Mapleton City to develop a strategy to reactivate the
Mapleton No. I well. Although we cannot provide you with specific plans at this tun:e,
the DWQ will ensure, and State law requires, that any activities will be protective of
human health and the environment.
At this time we cannot detennine how long clean-up activities will be needed to
restore the aquifer to acceptable levels. Typical ground water clean-up programs can take
several decades. Fortunately,natural processes have been doing a pretty good job of
cleaning up the aquifers as nitrate concentrations have g~nerally been declining over time
- in some areas rather dramatically. We believe that explosive ~oncentrations will also
show similar trends, but not enough data to assess trends in explosive concentrations have
been collected, at this time. In any case, active pumping will augment and speed up the
clean-up of ground water ~at is occurring naturally.
We do not believe that clean-up activities will substantially affect the availability
of water from aquifers. While water levels may be temporarily lowered in some areas,
private well use and operationwill not be noticeably affected.
Analysis of water from your well indicates the presence of elevated concentrations
of nitrate-nitrogenand explosives. According to the DWQ, this well water should not be
used for drinking or other culinary purposes. The use of this water for lawn sprinkling,
stock watering and other non-culinaryuses is acceptable.
Please note, that your well water may be affected by undesirable constituents (i.e.
·bacteria, sulfate, iron, nitrate) that are not attributable to the explosive manufacturing.
process. It is our understandingthat there are wells ~ the Mapleton area that have had .
bacteria problems and, there are wells in Utah County that have elevated nitrate
concentrations that are not related to the EBCo site. As a well owner, you are ultimately
responsible for assessingthe quality of your well water. However, if you would like your
well sampled for nitrate-nitrogen,and it is withi~ an area where elevated concentrations
that may have resulted from plant operations are possible, we will gladly perform that
_analysis. ·

 We hope that you have found this letter to be informative and perhaps

may
alleviate concerns that you may have about use of your well. If you have questions about
the content of this letter, please forward your written questions to my attention at the

address indicated on the letterhead.

Sincerely,

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Kendall H. Robins
Manufacturing Director

cc:

John Whitehead

Mark Franson
James P. Ray
James A. Holtkamp
Paul Torcoletti