Technical update shows antimony detections; presenter asks council for letters to state and federal agencies

Chris Gardner presented updated water-quality figures, saying the concentration of antimony in the Susan Wethington well “remains high above the drinking water standard” and reporting antimony detection about three miles downstream at Rocking Chair Ranch. He said selenium concentrations also showed a recent spike and that discharge had resumed after a short period of no discharge.

Gardner urged the council to send a letter of support to the agencies he named (transcript: ADQ and the U.S. Forest Service) to permit a dye tracer study and to ask ADQ to reopen the APP (as referenced in the transcript) to increase monitoring frequency at the discharge point to weekly and add monitoring wells along Harshaw Creek. He said samples had been collected and that time would tell whether results come back within standards.

Gardner also noted that the treatment plant appeared designed to treat antimony down to about 2 parts per billion and suggested the plant may be able to treat either antimony or selenium but not both simultaneously. He requested council support for formal monitoring steps and study permits to better understand surface‑groundwater interactions.