A search has begun to find a new location for a city well.
At last week’s meeting of the Elgin City Council, City Engineer John Zwingman discussed problems discovered with Well #77. As previously reported, water from the well has arsenic levels determined to be ‘high’ by the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality. He and Street Superintendent Don Poulsen Jr., both agree that money could be spent and efforts made by the State to reduce arsenic levels, but the likelihood of being successful is not good.
Because of that, Zwingman suggested to the Council that it may now be time to look for a new well site.
Based on the information shared by Zwingman, the three Council members present (council member Shirley Nissen was absent) decided to abandon the idea of the State conducting tests to lower the arsenic level in the #77 well.
Having made the decision, the council learned from Zwingman the cost of putting in a new water and test well could be as much as $400,000. He said it’s possible the state could cover up to 20 percent of the costs and the remainder could be financed with a low-interest loan.
For the complete story, see the print edition of The Elgin Review
