Lodgepole considers well rehab

LODGEPOLE - The Lodgepole Village Board of Trustees is considering well rehabilitation as a possible solution to its arsenic problem.

“We’re looking to see if that would be an option for us. We don’t even know yet,” Tammy Sherman, Lodgepole city clerk, said. “We’re just gathering some information to see if our wells would maybe fit that category, to get in compliance with the arsenic levels.”

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services has regulations governing public water supply systems and requires quarterly water tests.

The state standard for arsenic is 0.010 milligrams per liter. Lodgepole exceeded this limit in 2016.

Of the dates sampled, March 2016 had the highest rate with 0.012 mg/L and August and November 2016 both had 0.010 mg/L.

GeoSpec Drilling LLC of Gretna gave a presentation to the trustees at their May 1 meeting.

According to Bo R. Bonn, GeoSpec owner, the problem may rest with the city’s well and its annulus, the cylindrical casing that fits inside the pipe in the drilled hole.

Lodgepole’s well uses a then-standard gravel-packed annulus. But because water can move up that space, regulations have since been changed on constructing wells. Now, municipal wells use a chip bentonite seal.

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