Bryan County is testing groundwater at an old construction and demolition landfill off Spur 144 after “elevated” levels of arsenic were found in a monitoring well near the site.
Officials announced the find on Tuesday. In a press release, Bryan County said the discovery was made in one of six shallow monitoring wells regularly sampled as part of the process of closing the landfill, which is currently being used as a transfer station for so-called “brown goods,” which includes small appliances and electronics.
While arsenic is normally found in groundwater, the current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standard for drinking water is less than 10 parts per billion.
It was unclear Tuesday how much arsenic was found in the monitoring well, only that it was “above appropriate groundwater protection standards,” according to the county’s press release.
In a legal notice the county is required to run, the language was a bit different.

“Arsenic has been detected in groundwater at levels statistically significant above background concentrations,” it said, and continued “Because the arsenic has been detected near the facility boundary a potential release from the facility may have occurred.”
The press release said it’s not uncommon to find both arsenic and methane “as a result of typical landfill operations and closure procedures,” so “the general public should not be alarmed by these conditions.”
“At this time the monitoring well sample results do not appear to indicate any potential threats to the health and safety of the general public,” the release said.
But the release also said the county is exploring “remediation techniques with its environmental consultant and the Georgia EPD in order to reduce methane and arsenic concentrations in the vicinity of the potential release. In addition, the Bryan County Health Department shall evaluate the properties adjacent to the landfill site to determine the possibility for any potential impacts to shallow potable water wells in the area.”
The legal notice said Bryan County is “considering installation of a methane vent trench or similar engineering control to reduce methane and arsenic concentrations in the vicinity.”
The county’s six monitoring wells at the site are each 25-feet deep, according to County Administrator Ben Taylor, who said there’s no threat to public health.
“That’s why we’re monitoring the wells, to keep it from getting to that point,” he said.
Here’s what the release said:
“In accordance with recently enacted legislation, Bryan County published a public notice in conjunction with sampling results associated with shallow groundwater monitoring wells located on the perimeter of the Spur 144 C&D landfill site. As part of the landfill closure process the county has undertaken regularly scheduled groundwater sampling the results of which are reported to the EPD. The latest sampling event detected arsenic in one of the six site monitoring wells which was above appropriate groundwater protection standards. As it is not uncommon to find methane and arsenic as a result of typical landfill operations and closure procedures the general public should not be alarmed by these conditions. However, as a result of the elevated arsenic level found in this monitoring well Bryan County will begin evaluating remediation techniques with its environmental consultant and the Georgia EPD in order to reduce methane and arsenic concentrations in the vicinity of the potential release. At this time the monitoring well sample results do not appear to indicate any potential threats to the health and safety of the general public. In addition, the Bryan County Health Department shall evaluate the properties adjacent to the landfill site to determine the possibility for any potential impacts to shallow potable water wells in the area.”