By Sheila McLaughlin
Enquirer staff writer

INDIAN HILL - State environmental investigators are looking into suspicious mercury levels in lake water at a former gravel pit that is pegged to become a city park, and into reports that a target range once operated there.

Officials with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency have asked the city to step up monitoring of their drinking water because the lakes sit on top of the aquifer that feeds Indian Hill wells.

Agency officials also said they are looking into the possibility that lead may be on the site because a shooting range may have operated in the middle of the 309-acre site until the 1970s.

The state agency got involved after inquiries from the Enquirer.Recent tests at the site off Ohio 126 showed levels of mercury in four lakes that were higher than the federal standard for drinking water, and in two cases exceeded what is considered safe for aquatic life.

But City Manager Mike Burns said public discussion of the findings was "premature" because the city's consultant, H.C. Nutting Co., planned to conduct further tests that could challenge the first round of results.

The water samples were taken in April as part of a study to determine what water activities to allow on the lakes when the park, called Grand Valley, is developed.

The city's $5 million plan includes connecting lakes to be used for kayaking, sailing, and catch-and-release fishing.

According to Burns, test results ranged from 0.74 micrograms of mercury per liter of water to 2.6 micrograms per liter. The federal drinking water standard is 0.2 micrograms per liter.

The maximum mercury level considered safe for aquatic life in the Ohio River basin is 1.7 micrograms per liter, according to state officials

Diana Zimmerman, a supervisor for surface water quality for Ohio's environmental agency, declined to comment about the Indian Hill test results, saying she didn't know their testing methods. She said the federal Environmental Protection Agency has strict standards for mercury sampling.

"Contamination can come from lots of different areas. It's as simple as you can't wear deodorant. Nobody can smoke. You can't take samples from a boat that uses a gas motor," Zimmerman said. "I don't know anything about the protocols that were used, so it's difficult for me to comment on their levels."

Jim Fox, Indian Hill water works superintendent, said testing the untreated water in the city's monitoring wells would be done as a precaution. He was not overly concerned because mercury has not been detected in the wells in years past. The most recent test was April 2003.

At the Ohio EPA's urging, the city will check for mercury during its next round of quarterly drinking water tests in July.

The wells, south of the gravel pits, supply water to Indian Hill, Terrace Park, Camp Dennison, about half of Madeira, and portions of Montgomery and Milford, according to the city's Web site.

Meanwhile, state environmental investigator Scott Glum has ordered aerial photographs of the gravel pits from the 1960s and 1970s to see if there is any evidence of a target range on the central east side of the property. Two local men have said a range operated at the gravel pits.

Burns said he knew nothing about it, and that a recent environmental assessment of the site focused only on the mining operation, which began in the 1940s. The pits have been operated by three companies since then. Glum said he will suggest Indian Hill conduct lead tests at the site if research confirms the target range. The agency does not regulate lead contamination from target ranges, but has guidelines for cleanup, Glum said.

Skip McCracken, who has lived in the Miamiville area for 50 years and owns a trucking company there, described it as a casual range, where a group of men shot on Sundays. Alan Pfingstag of Miami Township said that he shot there as a teenager in the 1970s, and had to pay a fee to use the range.

Mercury: Where it comes from, what it can do

Sources of mercury

• Enters the water or soil from natural ore deposits in rock. Ohio's rock contains low levels of mercury.

• Improper disposal of thermometers, batteries, as well as older thermostats, fluorescent lights and some household paints.

• Emissions that coal-burning power plants deposit in lakes and streams from rain and runoff. Bacteria in the water converts it to methyl mercury, which is then ingested by fish. Larger and older fish tend to have the highest levels of mercury.

Health risks

• Exposure to high levels of mercury can permanently damage the brain, kidneys or a developing fetus.

• The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency currently advises eating no more than one weekly serving of sport fish from all water bodies in the state because of mercury or PCB content. Several local waters, including the Little Miami River, are even more restricted for certain fish species. Information, www.epa.state.oh.us/dsw/fishadvisory.

Source: Ohio Department of Health and Environmental Protection Agency