NITRATE HAZARD MAP

The darker the red the greater the hazard. Light green wells showed low, less than 2 (mg/l). However, do not assume areas in white are safe, they have NOT been sampled.


Click image to see enlarged map on a separate page for printing.

"Every 15 seconds, somewhere in the world, a child dies from drinking contaminated water." Post Standard/Parade 10/26/03

DISCLOSURE: This map was created by me using what information I had available at the time. It should be considered my opinion and used only as a guide to the possible nitrate hazard in areas of the town.

OVERVIEW: Over the past two weeks I've had an exchange of emails with officials at the county health department trying to get updated information about the wells being sampled. It all ended when they demanding that I use a Freedom of Information Law request for the data rather than just giving it to me. This results in unnecessary delays because they will eventually have to provide the information. This makes me think they have something to hide else why not just open up with it now. Most agency's I deal with don't require that I go through this delaying tactic but for reasons known only to the health department, matters of vital health information need not be divulged in a hurry. I ended my last email with them:

How does delaying getting vital information to the public that affects the health of the community jive with your motto... "Working to build a healthy community since 1929"

MAP: The original map was provided last year but I was told that nothing has changed, Levels went up and down but were pretty constant from last year. However, the nitrate contamination is not getting better. When I get the data from my FOIL request (if ever) I can update the maps I've created so far and create new ones for each test period. It's a pity they are holding this vital health information back but that is their choice and we all have to live with it.

PLUME: Some years ago Cortland's city well was being threatened. Officials did a study that showed the 'plume' of pollution that was heading towards the city well. The plume looked like the spray from a can of spray paint, getting thinner as it got further away from the source. Finally being diluted to the point of being safe before it got to Cortland's well. I've used this plume theory in making these maps. Because the wells are not the source point I also backtracked from the tested wells to try to present a better overall picture. Fortunately, the map has flow direction arrows that shows the flow of water in the aquifer. HOWEVER, it appears that one well tested low (upper right) that is right next to wells that tested high. The purpose of these new maps is to show the 'POTENTIAL' areas of risk, NOT the actual measured risk. The purpose is to inform you that IF you are in one of these red areas you should have you water tested to verify any hazard to you.

MUMBO JUMBO: Sifting through the official mumbo jumbo is tiring which is why they do it. For example, they say that the nitrates may be 'old' implying that because they are not a 'new' problem they shouldn't be expected to do anything about it. They also say that the levels are variable, more in the spring after the winter runoff. This contradicts their first statement about being old. i.e. If the nitrates are 'old' then why would the spring runoff increase them? Wouldn't the nitrates from the runoff be new? In any case what I have concluded as a working hypothesis is that the base level of the nitrates has been steadily increasing over the years from a variety of sources, mostly over fertilizer and manure use and perhaps other sources. Combined they have brought the base level up and now the increased use of liquid manure has brought the levels above the danger point.

MAKING THE MAPS: I started with the map that was presented at a meeting last year in Cortland. I had to use a FOIL to get that map too. After changing the colors to make it more readable I used the flow arrows to draw a threat corridor both upstream and downstream from each well. I have included links to all three maps, both large and small so you can see how I arrived at the final map above. These links open in a new window. Hint: Print all three maps and put them on top of each other. Hold up to the light and you can better see what I did.

Original map small | large

Changed color dots map small | large

Final map small | large

FOIL: With few exceptions ALL records are open to the public. In this case the names of the people whose wells are being sampled may be open to the public but even if they were I would not divulge them because it is not necessary to do so. I don't need to know the exact address of the wells being sampled because of the way I am working with the information. I only need the approximate location as you can see from the way I'm doing the maps. They only show a general location of each well and that is all we need to know.

COLORS: The original map used colors in a different way to show nitrate concentration (mg/l). Green for 0 - 2, blue for 2 - 5, yellow for 5 - 10 and red for over 10. To make it more obvious to read and possibly show trends I used shades. Light green for 0 - 2, Then red for the rest. 35% for 2 - 5, 75% for 5 - 10 and 100% for over 10. This will show up as shades of pink but should make the maps much more instructive. If you print all three maps you can see how I created the final map.

CONCLUSION:Until the county is more open with information I will use what information I can get to inform the public about this or any other hazard. I think it is far wiser to err on the side of caution rather than hide the data in the hopes it will get better all by itself. It's been over a year and they are no further ahead than they were last year. They 'hope' to drill a deep test well to look for nitrate free water. I suppose if they find nitrate free water down deep they will expect all those effected to drill deeper wells and then consider the problem solved. In over a year I have never, make that NEVER, heard any official talk seriously about correcting the problem. All they say is they are looking for the source, nothing about what they intend to do about it, (if anything) once they find it… if ever.

Stay tuned.