CONTAMINATED AREA: Rural dwelling at Forest, south of Chehalis, to get clean water
Brian Mittge, The Chronicle, 7/17/2001
Lewis County opened bids Monday in a project to extend Chehalis city water lines to a Forest home whose well is contaminated with underground chemicals.
A shallow aquifer under Part Of the rural community of Forest south of Chehalis is contaminated with chemicals suspected to have come from the Lewis County Central Shop at the intersection of Jackson Highway and Forest-Napavine Road.
A well on the property of Fred Teitzel near the shop will be served with city water, it is hoped by the end of the summer.
"None of the other wells ... are past the point of acceptable limits set at the state and federal level" Eric Johnson,
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"The county is not claiming liability, but we recognize that our primary duty is ensuring clean and safe drinking water for the public," Commissioner Eric Johnson said.
Teitzel will not have to pay for the cost of extending the line to his property. The county and a grant from the state Department of Ecology will pay the cost, said Johnson.
Previously, the county had provided Teitzel with a temporary water filtration system for his well, and before that with bottled water, Johnson said.
At this point Teitzel is the only neighbor who may connect to city water, Johnson said.
The state's Growth Management Act prohibits homes outside a city's urban growth area from connecting to city water unless there is a health risk.
The UGA currently ends at the intersection of Jackson Highway and North Fork Road.
Teitzel's well is the only one in the Forest area that exceeds acceptable state and federal limits for ground water contamination, and thus is the only one that may connect to city water based on a health risk, Johnson said.
"None of the other wells at this point are past the point of acceptable limits set at the state and federal level," Johnson said.
The Department of Ecology has sunk a number of test wells in the Forest area and near the county shop to further define the area affected with the contaminants.
Tests show several chemical contaminants in the water, including tetrachloroethylene, trichloroethylene and 1,4-dichlorobenzene. These are all suspected of causing cancer with long-term exposure.
Currently a small line runs about 3/8 of a mile from the intersection of Jackson Highway and North Fork Road to serve the county shop.
Three bids were received Monday to install the 8-inch water main that will replace the private 2-inch line installed last summer.
Wilder Construction of Olympia submitted a bid of $69,328.56. George Gill Construction of Chehalis submitted a bid of $77,902, while Martin Sand and Gravel Co. of Rochester submitted a bid of $104,611.16.
The engineer's estimate was $76,595.75.
A fourth company, Stellar J of Woodinville, brought in a proposal just 45 minutes past the 9:30 a.m. deadline, having misunderstood the instructions for the county bidding process.
County commissioners will select the lowest responsible bid next week at their regular 10:00 a.m. Monday meeting.
Brian Mittge covers local government for The Chronicle. He may be reached by e-mail at bmittge@chronline.com, or by telephoning 807-8237.
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