Tribe in Compliance With EPA Water Quality Standards
Scott Csernyik
9/21/2000 12:00:00 AM
A federal agency has concluded there is no threat to human health or the environment
from past releases associated with the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe's snowmelt systems
at the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in a June 29 letter from the Region
5 office in Chicago, also said there is no evidence of violations of "any
environmental standards for drinking water."
In late December of 1997, between 100 and 150 gallons of a mixture of ethylene
glycol and water was accidentally dumped by Soaring Eagle maintenance department
workers into the Tribe's waste water treatment system. This release temporarily
disrupted operation of the plant as its bacterial ecosystem was affected.
The Tribe has two snowmelt systems, one at the casino and the other at the
hotel. An ethylene glycol solution is used as an antifreeze to heat the resort's
sidewalks.
Due to a defective connection in the system, the recommended mixture of ethylene
glycol and water had been diluted by additional water and was leaking from the
system.
"Based on Jan. 12, 1998 and March 20, 1998 letters to Soaring Eagle Casino
from AquaTrol, it appears that the ethylene glycol mixture had been leaking
from the system," according to the EPA letter. "The precise quantity of ethylene
glycol released through this leaking cannot be determined. Nor can it be determined
where any leaked ethylene glycol was released, though it can be assumed that
released ethylene glycol entered soil, and possibly groundwater, underneath
the casino.
"Without knowing the quantity of ethylene glycol released, and the time period
of this release, it is impossible to determine exactly how far any release may
have migrated through soil or groundwater."
In July 1998, about 1,400 gallons of the chemical was replaced with an earth-friendly,
nontoxic chemical called propylene glycol. Subsequently, the snowmelt systems
were flushed with deionized water to remove any traces of ethylene glycol.
"Based on the characteristics of ethylene glycol and propylene glycol, we do
not believe there is any present risk to human health or the environment from
the releases of either ethylene glycol or propylene glycol," the letter further
said. "Both are readily biodegradable, disappearing rapidly in both aerobic
(in the presence of oxygen) and anaerobic (without oxygen) environments. Neither
compound is likely to exist in large amounts in air and about half of the compounds
that enter the air will break down in 24 – 50 hours. Both compounds break
down within several days to a week in water and soil. Ethylene glycol does present
concerns at sufficiently high levels of exposure. It has mild to acute oral
toxicity. Propylene glycol is nontoxic and presents minimal threats to human
health or the environment even at fairly high concentrations."
The Tribe paid $14,000 this year for an independent consultant to analyze sludge
and water samples from the retention ponds adjacent to the Soaring Eagle Casino
for a number of different parameters, including ethylene glycol.
"This confirms that, even under the unlikely scenario in which ethylene glycol
traveled to surface waters through groundwater or was otherwise discharged to
the retention ponds, there is no present human health or environmental risk
posed by ethylene glycol in surface waters."
Tribal spokesperson Frank Cloutier hinted the alleged contamination issue was
fueled by a political faction aligned with a former Tribal administration.
"There is a certain amount of responsibility attached to any activity," he
said in a July 10 press release. "I feel confident now, as I have in the past,
that the current Tribal Council is doing everything within its power to create
a healthy, safe and secure environment for everyone. Perhaps this situation
will help those ill-informed individuals who brought about the question of contamination
to a place where they feel responsible enough to research more in-depth prior
to accusing anyone of wrong doing."