Well Water Sampling Certification ---- Immediate Need

[James H. Bushart]

With flood waters and oil slicks making their way through the Kansas-Missouri-Okalahoma-Texas areas...I wanted to point out to home inspectors in these areas that there is a Well Water Sampler Certification class being offered in St. Louis in October.

If your needs are more immediate than that, you may wish to contact Joe Farsetta and arrange to purchase the class on CD. While it lacks many of the visual aids and the additional clarification and facts that always come with face-to-face classroom experiences, it will help you to prepare and to qualify to add this service to those you currently offer.

Flood waters contaminate drinking wells, not only with bacteria but with chemical pollutants, as well. Know what tests are necessary and how to collect samples, properly, for each.

It's a valuable service and people in these areas are in need.

Flood imperils 2 SW Mo. towns

ASSOCIATED PRESS

07/03/2007

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) -- Officials have asked residents of two small western Missouri farm communities to evacuate because flood waters from neighboring Kansas cut off access to roads.

Authorities in Bates County started a voluntary evacuation late Monday of Rockville and Papinville in the southeast corner of the county.

Flood runoff from Kansas also closed a stretch of U.S. 71 in Bates County about 75 miles south of Kansas City, the Missouri Department of Transportation said.

Bates County Emergency Management Director Tim Young said most residents of the two towns were believed to have left. Rockville has fewer than 100 residents, and Papinville has about 40 people.

The county has set up an emergency shelter in the high school gym in Butler.

Young said much of the rural southern part of the county was cut off by the swollen Marais des Cygnes river, which runs from eastern Kansas to Truman Lake.


"There is potential for agricultural loss and livestock loss," Young said.

Bates County and nearby Vernon County have been hit by runoff from Kansas flooding. The flooding has swollen several rivers more than 10 feet over flood stage.

About a dozen smaller roads were also closed by high water in the two counties, which are mainly rural.

[James H. Bushart]

While this article concentrates on the contamination of public water sources, there are thousands of private drinking wells that are suffering contamination from this flood, as well.

Oil Plus Floods Turn Kansas Town Slimy

Jul 3, 10:50 AM (ET)

By ROXANA HEGEMAN


Burge, a heart surgery patient who had to breathe from a portable oxygen tank because the petroleum odor Monday was so strong it could be detected by the crews of helicopters passing overhead.

A malfunction allowed the oil to spill from the Coffeyville Resources refinery on Sunday, while the plant was shutting down in advance of the flood heading toward it on the Verdigris River.

Cleanup of the toxic sludge will complicate long-term flood recovery efforts for Coffeyville.
(AP) The town of Chanute, Kan., is seen in this aerial photo Monday, July 2, 2007, as the Neosho River...
Full ImageThe oil also is a concern for others downstream. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had teams on the scene and was monitoring the oil slick as it floated toward drinking water sources and recreation areas in Oklahoma, said Jim Miller, the Montgomery County emergency manager.
Sharon Watson, spokeswoman for the Kansas adjutant general, said the EPA and state officials would work with officials at the refinery to measure the amount of contamination and help the refinery clean up. In the meantime, however, Watson said, "We're asking everyone to avoid the floodwaters."

That wasn't an option for Fire Department Capt. Mike Mansfield, who rescued eight dogs from water-logged homes Monday. He said all the dogs found outside were covered in oil.

The oil was floating down river toward Oklahoma and that state's Oologah Lake, about 30 miles northeast of Tulsa, said Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, the Kansas state adjutant.

However, Oklahoma officials were optimistic the spill would dissipate before it reached the lake, which provides flood control, drinking water and recreation.
"There are nine public water supplies along the Verdigris and the Oologah Lake, and none of them are currently affected," said Skylar McElhaney, a spokeswoman for Oklahoma's Department of Environmental Quality. Tulsa is among the cities that get water from Oologah.

The oil joins other causes of misery for thousands of flood evacuees in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

"We do have health concerns," said Bret Glendening, city manager in Osawatomie, Kan. "You've got stagnant water. The water's been into the wood. You have mold issues. There's a whole host of concerns flooding causes."

"All our utilities are under water," Fredonia Mayor Max Payne said.

On Monday night, President Bush declared a major disaster in Kansas and ordered federal aid for recovery efforts.

Eleven deaths have been blamed on weeks of heavy rain and flooding in Texas, where two men are missing.

More thunderstorms hit parts of Texas on Monday, flooding some roads. The National Weather Service said about 10 inches of rain fell by noon at Corpus Christi.

Two youngsters were rescued from an Arlington, Texas, drainage channel, one after floating half a mile downstream through at least three viaducts, said Fire Department Battalion Chief David Stapp. A handful of people had to be rescued from flooded homes in Laredo.

In North Little Rock, Ark., about 30 homes were evacuated Monday when heavy rain and a faulty drainage system caused flooding up to 6 feet deep in some spots.

The weather and floods have squelched summer recreational activities across the Plains, slowing business at parks and tourist destinations and waterlogging campsites and hiking trails.

A year ago, many Texas officials warning boaters about lakes that were too low and banned fireworks because the ground was too dry. Now some popular lakes might be closed for the Fourth of July because they're too full, and fireworks shows are threatened by a continuing forecast of rain.

Texas has had to close three state parks temporarily.
"Obviously it's going to impact numbers. People don't want to go camping when it's pouring down rain," said Rob McCorkle, a spokesman for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

[James H. Bushart]

Flood forces western Mo. residents out

ASSOCIATED PRESS

07/03/2007

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) -- At least 50 people were evacuated by boat Tuesday from a rural community in western Missouri as floodwaters streaming in from neighboring Kansas submerged roads leading to the town.

Bates County Emergency Management Director Tim Young said most residents in and around the small community of Papinville were leaving after the nearby Osage and Marais des Cygnes rivers flooded.

"About half a mile outside town is where the water starts. Most of the roads in town are covered in water, so we've got houses as islands and we've got boats kind of wandering through to pick people up and provide assistance," Young said by cell phone from the scene.

In nearby Rockville, which has less than 200 residents, most people chose to stay put, despite the voluntary evacuation that started Monday, he said.

Gov. Matt Blunt, meanwhile, declared a state of emergency and activated the Missouri National Guard to help local communities respond to ongoing flooding along the Kansas border.

Both Rockville and Papinville are in Bates County, where U.S. 71 was closed in both directions along a stretch about 75 miles south of Kansas City.


Evacuees included one family outside town with 10 dogs, all of whom were brought out by boat, Young said.

An emergency shelter was opened at the high school in Butler. Most evacuees were staying with family or friends, Young said, but a few families were expected to spend the night at the shelter.

The Osage River is not forecast to peak until Thursday and could get another 10 feet of water, Young said. The Marais des Cygnes already has crested.

Both rivers run from southeastern Kansas, where several days of heavy rain caused flooding, east to Truman Lake.