Did the Lindsay paint factory contaminate Madison's water supply?

Hallman Lindsay manufactures paints in Sun Prairie, WI.   They proudly display their "Green Leaf Promise of responsibility to the environment.  But there is evidence that the old Lindsay* paint factory in Madison contaminated Madison's water supply, requiring the abandonment of Well #3 and a costly search for new supplies.

As part of their Green Leaf Promise, would Hallman Lindsay like to promise a million dollars to Madison's Water Utility, to help drill a new well?

It isn't easy being green.

Watershed abuse = high costs to taxpayers

Well #3 on the east side of the Isthmus was shut down in 2006 after carbon tetrachloride was detected in water from the well.  The industrial solvent is a known carcinogen.  In 2008, the well had to be permanently abandoned.  Source.

"Estimated costs for replacing polluted wells and improving supply show that fixing problems will not be cheap. The utility, for example, has penciled in a tentative $7 million in its long-range capital budget for solving issues on the Isthmus, though that is for siting and building a new well rather than other potential solutions such as a treatment plant or pumping water from elsewhere." 

"...Cleaning up and monitoring the landfills has so far cost more than $35.2 million. Of that amount, about $25.2 million has been raised through fees collected on water utility bills.  Source

The law allows Madison to recover some of these costs from the polluters.  Read on...

The old Lindsay paint factory

"In 2003, high levels of carbon tetrachloride...in Well No. 3... prompted the DNR to begin an investigation of the pollution and its source.

Within just a quarter mile of the well, McCutcheon -- whose job includes investigating sources of contamination -- found nearly a dozen sites that had a history of contamination including a railroad yard, a city of Madison garage and waste oil recovery site, a couple of auto repair shops and paint and machine shops. Leaking underground storage tanks were found on at least six of these sites.

In his investigation, McCutcheon zeroed in on the site of an old paint factory, Lindsay Finishes. There had been previous detections of carbon tetrachloride on the property at 1902 E. Johnson St.

McCutcheon sampled the soil and found 17 different industrial contaminants, including carbon tetrachloride.

As he frequently does when he is tracking pollution through time, McCutcheon found a former employee of the now-closed paint factory, a 77-year-old man who had worked at the factory for about 18 years, starting in 1946.

The employee recalled that coal and coal ash were dumped by wheelbarrow on the ground behind the plant and that liquids from the factory were dumped directly on top of the ash piles. The worker recalled that the factory used both carbon tetrachloride and trichloroethylene as degreasers on equipment.

In the end, McCutcheon concluded that the industrial contaminants found at the site of the old paint factory may indeed have been the source of pollutants found in both the deep and shallow aquifer from which the nearby city well pumped drinking water. But the findings, he added, were not conclusive."  Source

One reason the findings were inconclusive:  "Within just a quarter mile of the well, McCutcheon... found nearly a dozen sites that had a history of contamination."

Holding companies responsible

"City attorney Jim Voss said the law allows the city to pursue claims from private companies... to help offset the costs of cleanup. Such companies are considered "potentially responsible parties," Voss said.

Also, negotiations with companies that disposed of wastes in the landfills resulted in payments from at least two -- $430,000 from Madison Gas & Electric and $300,000 from Giddings and Lewis.  Source

Further research could help prove the case against the former Linsay paint factory.  Mart Oostrom is a scientist who has done much research on carbon tetrachloride in groundwater.  What's required is more sampling of contaminants in the soil, and in deeper groundwater.  Finding the direction of groundwater flow can help zero in on the source.

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*   "In 1991 Hallman Paints joined forces with Lindsay Finishes to form hallman/lindsay quality paint." They say they are "Quick to remember our humble beginnings...."  Source 

From Hallman Lindsay's corporate "Vision and values:  Servanthood - Make everyone better."

We are grateful to the excellent reporting by Ron Seely in the Wisconsin State Journal, which is quoted extensively above.