Contamination from Dartmouth Dump Site Spreads to New Well

In an update on a story we’ve been following for some time, Dartmouth College officials are now saying that contamination from a former dumping ground has spread from the original site, to a well nearly a mile to the North.

The Valley News reports that officials were caught off guard by the distance of this new contamination from the original site. The contamination was first revealed when owners of the Rennie Farm were informed that their well contained more than twice the state standard of 1-4 Dioxane, classified as a probable human carcinogen. This new well reportedly tested about Point 3 parts per billion of 1-4 Dioxane or about a tenth of the state standard.

The contamination stems from a dumping ground for laboratory animals, as well as chemical solvants that were used by Dartmouth in the 60s and 70s. Hundreds of animal carcasas that had been the subject of radiological tests by researchers as well as Barrels of scintillation fluid, thought to be the cause of the 1-4 Dioxane contamination were buried at the site off Rennie rd just south of Lyme.

Dartmouth College continues to work with the owners of the Rennie Farm and neighboring home owners in an effort to clean up the site, and recently the revised clean up plan has been approved by state nuclear regulators.