Surveying Upstate NY Well Water for Pesticide Contamination: Cayuga and Orange Counties

Abstract

Private wells in Cayuga and Orange counties in New York were sampled to determine the occurrence of pesticide contamination of groundwater in areas where significant pesticide use coincides with shallow or otherwise vulnerable groundwater. Well selection was based on local groundwater knowledge, risk modeling, aerial photo assessments, and pesticide application database mapping. Single timepoint samples from 40 wells in each county were subjected to 93‐compound chromatographic scans. All samples were nondetects (reporting limits ≤1 μg/L), thus no wells from either county exceeded any of 15 state groundwater standards or guidance values. More sensitive enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) found two wells with quantifiable atrazine in each county (0.1–0.3 μg/L), one well with quantifiable diazinon (0.1 μg/L) in Orange County, and one well with quantifiable alachlor (0.2 μg/L) in Cayuga County. Trace detections (<0.1 μg/L) in Cayuga County included atrazine (five wells), metolachlor (six wells), and alachlor (one well), including three wells with multiple detections. All 12 Cayuga County wells with ELISA detections had either corn/grain or corn/forage rotations as primary surrounding land uses (although 20 other wells with the same land uses had no detections) and all quantified detections and most trace detections occurred in wells up to 9‐m deep. Orange County trace (<0.1 μg/L) ELISA detections (atrazine three wells, diazinon one well, and metolachlor five wells) and quantified detections were only generally associated with agricultural land uses. Finding acceptable drinking water quality in areas of vulnerable groundwater suggests that water quality in less vulnerable areas will also be good.

Impacts of Ground Water Contamination on Property Values: Agricultural Run-off and Private Wells

“…The most recent report (2004) does not go into as much detail and simply labels the leading cause as "agriculture." Furthermore, a recent survey of 40 private wells in New York found that several contained quantifiable traces of agricultural pesticides (Richards et al 2012). A review of recent studies of ground water contamination can be found in Sudarshan and Venkataraman (2013).…”

“… 23 In EPA's 2000 National Water Quality Inventory (), states reported that agricultural nonpoint-source pollution was the leading source of water quality impacts for surveyed rivers and lakes, the second largest source of impairments to wetlands, and a major contributor to contamination of surveyed estuaries and ground water. The most recent report (2004) does not go into as much detail and simply labels the leading cause as “agriculture.” Furthermore, a recent survey of 40 private wells in New York found that several contained quantifiable traces of agricultural pesticides (Richards et al 2012). A review of recent studies of ground water contamination can be found in Sudarshan and Venkataraman (2013).…”

From parcels to people: development of a spatially explicit risk indicator to monitor residential pesticide exposure in agricultural areas

“…-Use of sales data: researchers utilized disaggregated country-based data on pesticide use and finer spatial resolution sales data, providing valuable insights into regional pesticide application patterns 56,57 .…”