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Geologist warns commissioners proposed wells and uranium leases could mobilize arsenic in county aquifers
Summary
Petroleum geologist Bill Farmley told the court increased pumping and proposed development (including 25 wells and potential uranium leases) could mobilize arsenic and change aquifer salinity; he urged use of reverse osmosis and local measures to restrict mining and exports.
Bill Farmley, a petroleum geologist and hydrologist, gave a technical briefing to the San Patricio County Commissioners Court on the Evangeline and Chico aquifers, arsenic and uranium risks, and options to reduce pressure on local groundwater.
"Every bit of this water that is gonna be produced if they get this Evangeline prods prospect going, it's gotta totally change the salinity of our water," Farmley said while showing well logs and maps he said demonstrate perforations throughout the water-producing sands. He flagged a proposed pattern of about 25 wells and argued that checkerboard drilling near a proposed mine could mobilize arsenic and uranium from volcanic formations.
Farmley told the court the Catahoula formation contains volcanic material that can carry arsenic and that some locations in nearby counties have measured concentrations he described as far above allowable EPA limits. He also said the absence of a local groundwater conservation district means private exporters can currently produce without local numeric limits on production, increasing the urgency for protections.
As a technical and policy remedy, Farmley recommended pursuing reverse osmosis/desalination options. He cited containerized reverse-osmosis units and a company he called Puronics as scalable solutions, and he said the county judge was pursuing state emergency funding to help finance alternatives to drawing on the Evangeline.
Farmley also urged commissioners to consider a local prohibition on uranium mining to prevent new contamination pathways. The court heard the presentation and thanked Farmley; no immediate regulatory change was adopted during the meeting.
