65809 Community Association Presents March, 2002 Meeting Notes Tom Aley is a professional groundwater hydrologist and is president of the Ozark Underground Laboratory in Protem, Missouri. He works regularly all over the United States from Alaska to Florida and Pennsylvania to California. Recently he completed a project on the island of Irian Jaya, which is part of Indonesia. Tom has directed numerous groundwater studies in the Springfield area with funding from the City of Springfield, Springfield City Utilities, Greene County, Springfield-Branson Airport, and numerous private entities. Tom's specialty is groundwater tracing studies in karst regions. Coordinator's Note: What is Karst and what makes a karst region? According to Webster's New World College Dictionary, fourth edition, Karst regions are made up of "porous limestone containing deep fissures and sinkholes and characterized by caves and streams." Tom gave a lively and educational presentation concerning a topic our general population knows little about. A basic knowledge of our local land structure is fundamental and crucial to good developmental decisions. It is critically important that public awareness be raised about karst lands and land uses. Cave echo-systems are often utilized as a measuring tool for indicators of the land's ability to sustain healthy human life or indicators of pollution which will eventually cause the land and water to be detrimental to human and animal health. The history of groundwater tracing goes back a long way in the Ozarks with known tracings done in 1898 when a Drury College professor used fluorescein dye to test for leaching of the typhoid grave yards into the surrounding areas and springs. Dye testing is useful today to determine where surface water ends up and how far away it travels.. Determining this data is very important to decision making for allowable development and land use. While toxic spills are always serious, the cost of cleaning up their damage can be dramatically reduced by the implementation of a good assessment program to accurately identify and target the actual area of damage. Often, damage to the underground is not what an educated guess would determine. It is imperative that the clean up effort and money be directed to the actual path of destruction. Tom cited a recent 1300 gallon jet fuel spill at the Springfield-Branson Regional Airport into a sinkhole which required immediate attention because of the Big Williams Springs and Fantastic Caverns within the underground network in that area. While the clean up was expensive, implementation of dye testing proved a savings and reassurance that the toxic substances had not reached the Big Williams Springs which serves as the recharge springs of Fantastic Caverns. Tom pointed out that the challenge to Springfield and Greene County is: How do we do what is wanted while taking care of our natural resources at the same time? One developmental question that always needs to be considered is: will the gain to the community (tax base, jobs, etc.) out weigh the cost of any clean up effort that may be later required? To illustrate his point, Tom told of an experience he had while consulting in another state. In that rural area, citizens were complaining because their water tasted like chicken broth. Fat could be found in the holding tanks of toilets. Assessment of the area demonstrated that discharge from the area's poultry processing plant had overloaded the city sewer system with poultry waste and had wiped out the sewer plant. The groundwater contamination impacted an area of about 60 square miles. Damage developed over a 15 year period. The public cost to correct this problem was over $10 million. The cost of this clean up and repair far out weighted the income that poultry plant put into the economy. It is by far cheaper to prevent problems than to fix them. Tom pointed out that several good groups in our area work hard to improve and protect our area's water supply. They should be credited for the fact that we have not experienced disastrous situations like he has found in other areas. He was especially complementary to David Coonrod and his leadership in environmental concerns and issues even above and beyond his position with the Greene County Government. The James River Basin Partnership and the Watershed Committee of the Ozarks are just a couple of our excellent groups. Because of the delicate task of overseeing development in a karst region, such as the Springfield Plateau, it is critical that our public servants, elected officials, and developers become knowledgeable about the nature of our land's capacity and limitations. A regional thinking must be developed. Pollution in water systems does not recognize regional boundaries. Community planners must be educated concerning our karst topography and how it should determine growth potential. Balancing community growth and the carrying capacity "of the land is not easy, it is a lot of work". Education is a large component of successful policies and should begin with school children and in science classes at all levels. Many planners do not understand the importance of the green forests to clean water. In fact, Tom said that he has encountered an arrogance along with ignorance (lack of knowledge) in some of his consulting cases. At best, all sewer systems leak and sooner or later will fail. When they do, area wells and water supplies will become contaminated. Some land use ideas simply cannot be tolerated, such as swine farms, in karst regions. Septic systems require adequate soils, we don't have many areas with soil that will support these systems. However, in the proper soil, and when properly constructed and maintained, septic systems may prove safer than the public sewer systems where system failure brings a large and costly disaster. Sound judgments and discretion need to be made by educated community leaders concerning the placement of septic systems and the use of sewer systems. Blanket requirements are not cost effective in most areas. Tom Aley came to our attention a few years back when he attended public hearings and spoke about the need to incorporate environmental studies into area policies. A couple of years ago he served the South East Springfield Neighborhood Association (SESNA) as a consultant concerning development along south Lone Pine and the effect it would have on the Sequiota Springs. At that time, he predicted increased water flow and high probability of destructive flooding. Unfortunately, his predictions were accurate and timely. Sequiota Park was severely damaged that same year after land was cleared near the intersection of Lone Pine and Battlefield. Repairs were costly. Most recently, the local newspaper covered Tom's efforts to practice his conservation skills with his own land and specifically concerning the efforts to restore the eco-system within a cave on that land. Tom told us that, so far, he has not done studies in the 65809 Community Association areas. He said that any future development project for our area should include an impact study on the area's caves, springs, streams and rivers. It should be clearly demonstrated where the springs are located in relation to the proposed development and how the development would impact natural resources and drainage systems. Mr. Aley said: "you can be sure that anything poured on the ground anywhere will end up in someone's drinking water somewhere".

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