The biggest threat to ground-water quality is flooding.

The biggest threat to ground-water quality is flooding.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR HEALTH WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- It was actually a waste company that helped create the agency that tracks the quality of well water in Mahoning County.
The Mahoning County Health District's Laboratory Services Division was originally financed by a $200,000 endowment from Browning-Ferris Industries of Ohio. The lab now keeps a watchful eye on the ground water that supplies the county's 12,000 drinking-water wells, including those closest to the county's landfills.
With ongoing financial support from the Mahoning County Solid Waste Management District, the lab was established in 1993 specifically to monitor ground water around the six open and closed landfills in Mahoning County.
Monitoring effluent (liquid discharge) from the landfills and testing private wells within a one-quarter-mile radius of the landfills still occupies more than half the time of the lab's staff of three full-time and one part-time employees, but its mission is evolving.
Surprisingly, said Matthew Stefanak, county health commissioner, landfills have proved not to have an adverse impact on the ground water.
Not only is their effluent closely monitored by the health department, but the landfills are also heavily regulated, both in the way they are built and operated.
For instance, the Mahoning Landfill, operated by Waste Management, has an internal system that recirculates leachate. The leachate never leaves the property, Stefanak said. Leachate results when water runs through the landfill.
Worst problem
The single biggest threat to ground water quality today is flooding. Much of the flooding is caused by development: Paved surfaces don't permit water to seep into the soil, causing flooding that contaminates wells, Stefanak said.
Other prime causes of ground-water contamination are runoff from agricultural operations and malfunctioning septic systems, which can introduce disease-bearing bacteria or viruses into the water, Stefanak said.
Bacterial contamination of ground water that feeds wells is widespread in Mahoning County, said Lee Benson, lab director. The good news, he said, is that it is usually correctable by chlorinating the well.
Twice a year and for free, the lab tests about 140 wells within a one-quarter-mile radius of the landfills that together bring about a million tons of solid waste annually into Mahoning County. Now, the lab is hoping to expand the free testing of drinking wells around landfills for up to a mile radius, which would bring the number of wells tested to about 1,000, said Lee Benson, lab director.
The lab, which limits itself to environmental issues, also tests for lead in paint. It will soon be certified in lead testing by the American Association for Lab Accreditation, which Stefanak said will put it on a "short list" of accredited labs nationally.
Another area
Stefanak said the lab is in the process of building capacity to identify mold types that develop in homes and businesses, which should occur later this year.
Benson said he has contacted lab directors at local hospitals to recruit biologists who are qualified, and reported he has two leads.
Stefanak said the Laboratory Services Division generates about $300,000 in revenue from contracts and fees, making it self-sufficient.
Stefanak said a health department is more effective when it has its own lab. It provides a quicker turn-around with answers when there are emergencies, and it is invaluable support for the health department's regulatory function.
Besides Benson, a chemist with a bachelor's degree from Youngstown State University, the staff consists of Janine DeLillo, also a chemist, with a bachelor's degree from the University of Pittsburgh; Ralph Widger, a lab assistant with an associate degree in environmental science from Kent State University's Salem Branch; and Marilyn Jeswald, a part-time secretary.
alcorn@vindy.com