Private Well Survey
BOONSNUB/AIRCO SUPERFUND SITE
VANCOUVER, CLARK COUNTY, WASHINGTON
EPA FACILITY ID: WAD009624453
December 24, 2003
Washington State Department of Health
Under a Cooperative Agreement with the
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table 1. Mail Well Survey near the Boomsnub/Airco Superfund site, Hazel Dell, Washington 2003.
Table 2. Private Well Area of Concern near the Boomsnub/Airco Superfund Site, Hazel Dell, Washington 2003.
- Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR):
- The principal federal public health agency involved with hazardous waste issues, responsible for preventing or reducing the harmful effects of exposure to hazardous substances on human health and quality of life. ATSDR is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
- An underground formation composed of materials such as sand, soil, or gravel that can store or supply groundwater to wells and springs.
- A substance that is either present in an environment where it does not belong or is present at levels that might cause harmful (adverse) health effects.
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA):
- The federal agency that develops and enforces environmental laws to protect the environment and the public's health.
- Contact with a substance by swallowing, breathing, or touching the skin or eyes. Exposure may be short-term [acute exposure], of intermediate duration, or long-term [chronic exposure].
- Water beneath the earth's surface in the spaces between soil particles and between rock surfaces [compare with surface water].
- Hazardous substance:
- Any material that poses a threat to public health or the environment. Typical hazardous substances are materials that are toxic, corrosive, ignitable, explosive, or chemically reactive.
- Monitoring wells:
- Special wells drilled at locations on or off a hazardous waste site so water can be sampled at selected depths and studied to determine the movement of groundwater and the amount, distribution, and type of contaminant.
- No apparent public health hazard:
- A category used in ATSDR's public health assessments for sites where human exposure to contaminated media might be occurring, might have occurred in the past, or might occur in the future, but where the exposure is not expected to cause any harmful health effects.
- A volume of a substance that moves from its source to places farther away from the source. Plumes can be described by the volume of air or water they occupy and the direction they move. For example, a plume can be a column of smoke from a chimney or a substance moving with groundwater.
- Remedial investigation:
- The CERCLA process of determining the type and extent of hazardous material contamination at a site.
- Route of exposure:
- The way people come into contact with a hazardous substance. Three routes of exposure are breathing [inhalation], eating or drinking [ingestion], or contact with the skin [dermal contact].
- Volatile organic compound (VOC):
- Organic compounds that evaporate readily into the air. VOCs include substances such as benzene, toluene, methylene chloride, and methyl chloroform.