Plainfield, Ind.-Local officials have hired an environmental firm to check for groundwater contamination near one of the town’s wells, which was shut down when 2,000 to 3,000 gallons of liquid fertilizer escaped in December from storage at a nearby farm supply store that closed down 10 years ago. “The city made the decision to shut down the well as a precautionary measure,” Amber Finkelstein, Indiana Dept. of Environmental Management (IDEM) spokeswoman, told Green Markets. Now the city is having test wells drilled in the vicinity of the well, located only 500 yards from the spill site, to make sure there isn’t any fertilizer close enough to cause a problem. Finkelstein said the leak was from a tank at the idled facility that hadn’t been completely drained. She said the fertilizer didn’t overflow the secondary containment, but flowed through an opening when the structure failed at the old Stanley Fertilizer Co. Both the city and state say that the owners have held on to the property and will be held responsible for the contamination. IDEM’s emergency spill team supervised the initial response in the neighborhood and immediate steps were taken to contain the liquid, which was running down the street and into a town storm sewer drain that was immediately sealed off. A local earthmoving company was called to assist in halting the runoff and begin cleanup by vacuuming as much of the spill as possible. Plainfield City Engineer Tim Belcher told the local press that a pipe or valve on the large storage tank was frozen and broke in the cold weather. “It is possible that the (chemicals) will dissipate and not pose any problem, but we’ll do these tests to find out what’s going on,” Belcher was quoted as saying.
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