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Underground gas cleanup project While the problem has been out-of-sight, out-of-mind - until last week's photos - to most citizens over the years, an area of underground water has been contaminated by the seepage of gasoline from underground storage tanks in Blakely. Over the past several weeks engineering crews have been at work installing a series of nearly 30 wells which will be used to remove at least some of the gasoline contamination. "Within the next few weeks we will begin pumping the water from the ground, extracting the gasoline and returning the clean water into the storm drain," Bill Murdy of MacTech Engineering told the News. MacTech of Atlanta and Huber Engineering of Thomasville are conducting the cleanup project under contract with the Georgia EPD. The cleanup is being funded by the Georgia Underground Storage Trust Fund which is funded by a onehalf cent per gallon fee on gasoline sold in Georgia. The wells begin just south of the intersection of South Main and Columbia streets and extend south, fanning out across the parking lot of Sawyer Shopping Center. According to Murdy, most of the contamination is believed to be restricted to a layer of water approximately 15 feet below ground. "EPD contractors have conducted several rounds of monitoring over the years with monitoring wells, resulting in the present corrective action plan," Murdy stated. The system will be capable of cleaning an estimated three gallons per minute. Murdy did not suggest how long the cleanup project would last. The seepage problems were first discovered over 30 years ago during the 1970s. "I don't know that they (EPD) were ever able to determine the exact source of the seepage," stated Mayor Ric Hall. "And, we would like to think all those old underground tanks are gone. But, we may never know what's really underground. At one time there were a lot of gas stations with underground tanks scattered across town." In addition to seepage from underground tanks causing the contamination along South Main, city and state officials were confronted at about the same time with another contamination problem along River Street. The gasoline seepage in that area is believed to have come from seepage around above ground tanks at either or both storage facilities in the area - the old Gulf Oil plant on Cherry Street and the old Standard Oil, now Chevron storage plant on College Street.
At one time that seepage was believed to have found its way into sewer lines resulting in complaints of gasoline odors from several residents along River Street.
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