By Richard L. Gaw
Staff Writer

As the new year begins, New Garden Township finds itself not only grappling with how to alleviate high levels of Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) emissions from outdoor fresh mushroom production facilities throughout the township, but the recent news that its waterways are contaminated with harmful nitrates.

Two studies conducted in the township last fall revealed extremely high levels of nitrates at four tributaries that greatly exceeded safety standards for drinking water established by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The studies were facilitated by Dr. Gerald Kauffman of the University’s Water Resource Center and President of the National Institute for Water Resources. The testing studied the results of water samples taken on Sept. 21 and Nov. 11 at four locations – three along the White Clay Creek and one at a Red Clay Creek tributary. While levels of Aluminum, Boron, Copper, Iron, Manganese, Phosphorous, Zinc and Aluminum Nitrogen fell below the EPA’s standard of 10 milligrams per liter, the recorded amounts of Magnesium, Potassium, Sodium and Sulfur ranged between a little over the standard to a recorded level of 72.873 milligrams per liter of Calcium at one tributary. 

The study was presented at the Jan. 27 Board of Supervisors meeting by township resident Don Morgan, who partnered with Kauffman on the testing. Kauffman and the University’s Water Resources Center work with local, state and regional governments in Delaware, the Delaware Valley and along the Eastern Seaboard in poviding water resources planning and policy assistance.

These potentially harmful levels of nitrates in the township’s water may be tied to the township’s proximity to the agricultural industry. In its 2018 study, “Drinking Water Nitrate and Human Health: An Updated Review,” the National Library of Medicine wrote that nitrate levels in water resources have increased in many areas of the world largely due to applications of inorganic fertilizer and animal manure in agricultural areas. 

“Considering all studies, the strongest evidence for a relationship between drinking water nitrate ingestion and adverse health outcomes is for colorectal cancer, thyroid disease, and neural tube defects,” the report stated. The NIH study further reported that ingestion of nitrates in drinking water has long been thought to be a primary cause of acquired infantile methemoglobinemia, often called “blue baby syndrome.” 

“I think we know that we have had a clean water problem,” Morgan told the board. “There have periodic outbreaks in the White Clay that are indicative of problems like that. I am going to continue looking for an effective study that will provide continuous samples and bring it before the board, hopefully for consideration.”

Brandywine Red Clay Alliance projects

In a related presentation, Brian Winslow, watershed conservation director with the Brandywine Red Clay Alliance, provided an update about the Alliance’s current projects which include its Red to Blue Program that has since 2008 completed nine watershed restoration plans along the Brandywine Creek and Red Cay Creek watersheds. Along the headwaters of the East Branch of the Red Clay Creek, the agency has restored 2.2 miles of streams, in partnership with several municipalities and conservation groups that include the Brandywine Conservancy, Stroud Water Research and the Chester County Conservation District.

The Brandywine Red Clay Alliance is currently undergoing a stream restoration project along Bucktoe Creek in the township that will repair 1,850 feet of stream, install a riparian buffer and plant 240 trees along the stream banks – scheduled to take place this spring. Additional stream restoration projects are being planned between Scarlett and Thompson roads and at Pemberton and North Mill roads, which the Alliance has classified as high priority. 

In other township business, the board:

• Approved a contribution to the Avondale Fire Company in the amount of $297,811.75 for the first quarter of the new fiscal year;
• Appointed the firm of Withum, Smith & Brown PC to conduct the township’s audit for fiscal year 2024; and
• Awarded the access road repair project at the New Garden Flying Field to Gorecon, Inc. in an amount not to exceed $355,333.58.

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email [email protected].