Woes pile up near dumping yard - Times of India

The GHMC has been dumping about 3,800 metric tonnes (MTs) of garbage daily in the 750-acre dump yard located about 35 kms from the city for the past few years.

Many villages like Haridaspally, Dammaiguda, Nagaram, which are located close to Jawaharnagar dump yard, have been facing ground water pollution due to continuous dumping over the years.

A few months ago, residents of Cheryala village in Keesara mandal had complained to Lokayukta that the lake in their village `Pedda Chervu' was getting polluted due to the leachate of Jawaharnagar.

Officials said Pedda Chervu is located in the downstream of Malkapur tank, which is close to Jawaharnagar. As leachate of Jawaharnagar was polluting Malkapur tank, water flowing into Pedda Chervu is also getting polluted.

After people complained of water pollution, the GHMC officials, a couple of months ago, had stopped inflows into Pedda Chervu by forming an earthen bund below the Jawaharnagar dump yard to ensure that the leachate does not enter the Malkapur tank.

Since the Pedda Chervu water had already got polluted, the Lokayukta has directed the GHMC to drain out water from the lake. Now, this has become a herculean task for the corporation officials as the tank is under the control of the minor irrigation department. GHMC officials approached the irrigation officials, who in turn sought instructions from the Ranga Reddy district collector.

The district collector did not give permission reportedly due to resentment from other villagers of Rampally, Kundapally and Godumpally, who are down streams of Pedda Chervu. The villagers expressed fear that the drained out lake water from Pedda Chervu might enter their lakes and tanks.

The water pollution in and around Jawaharnagar triggered huge protests three years ago. Villagers of Haridaspally and other villages had staged a dharna and even stopped garbage vehicles proceeding to Jawaharnagar as the dumping yard was not only causing ground water pollution but also roads were getting damaged due to heavy traffic. The GHMC assured them of laying roads, drinking water supply and street lights and other facilities.

While the roads and other facilities were provided, the GHMC recently paid about Rs 2.45 crore to the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board to supply piped water to the villages of Dammaiguda, Nagaram, Haridaspally, Ahmedguda and Cheriyal apart from Jawaharnagar.

When contacted, GHMC executive engineer D Sudhakar said they have inspected the area on the directions of the Lokayukta and were taking necessary steps for preventing water pollution.

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Dumping water into bay could be Mercury clean-up solution - UpperMichigansSource.com

CMS would filter the water to remove 90 percent of mercury, but some ask if that's enough

PETOSKEY, MI -- CMS Land Company believes they've found a local solution to the Leachate problem at Bay Harbor and East Park, but it's being met with some serious concern.

What to do with the contaminated water from the former Penn-Dixie Cement Plant near Petoskey?

That has been the question, and for four years, the water has been shipped to a deep-well injection site.

But CMS Land Company says something else needs to be done, and they believe they've found the solution.

But this solution could mean small quantities of Mercury being diluted into the Great Lakes.

For five years it has worked like this...collect the run-off water that contains mercury from the contaminated land underneath Bay Harbor and East Park, neutralize it in this building, and then ship the result, an average of 150-thousand gallons per day, to a deep-injection well-site more than 50 miles away to Johannesburg.  C-M-S Land Company has been in charge, and now, they say it's their belief they've found a better *local solution to take care of the local problem.

"We're proposing to build a $4 million state-of-the-art facility to treat the water that we collect here using the best available technology and then release that water back to Lake Michigan," said CMS Land Company Area Manager Tim Petrosky.

The main contaminant of concern is Mercury.  The facility will remove 90 percent or more from the water.  That water would then be mixed with clean water to meet environmental criteria before going back in the lake.

"The requirements are very, very stringent, in fact, the release criteria for mercury to the lake is 1.3 parts per trillion," said Petrosky.

Here's an analogy of the parts per trillion guideline.  It'd be like placing one drop of contaminated liquid in all of the water of 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools combined.

But Doctor Grenetta Thomassey of the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council says this amount *may seem benign...it could be detrimental, which is why the council doesn't support this solution.

“You mix it with water, and let it go into Little Traverse Bay, and then you come back and you mix it with water, and let it go into Little Traverse Bay, and basically what you got is that exact same amount of mercury all ending up in Little Traverse Bay, so we're not in favor of that, no," said Thomassey.

CMS has submitted an application to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment. 

“We look really carefully at mercury because it is one of the few contaminants that is known as a bio-cumulative compound, meaning that it builds up in the environment over a period of time, so we look at that very carefully," said Bob Wagner, the Lake Huron Regional Director of the DNRE.

“We think it's the best solution to environmental, safety, and economic perspective," said Petrosky.

“This is a bad deal.  So we are not interested in anything going into Little Traverse Bay if it can be prevented," said Thomassee.

The DNRE will review the application and if the proposed treatment meets the guidelines, they'll issue a draft permit sometime in October or November.  After that, they'll seek public comment.

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