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Ben Hall -2- 12 May 2011 <br /> Horacio Ferriz <br /> Musco Family Olive Company <br /> concern. The well development sheets indicate all three newly installed wells were noted as <br /> producing a lot of very fine sand and purge water remained very turbid at over 1000 NTUs. <br /> Volumes purged from these newly installed wells ranged between 12.1 gallons and 19.1 <br /> gallons, yet the NTU value never dropped below 1000 NTUs. <br /> The US Environmental Protection Agency's Test Methods for Evaluating Solid Waste, <br /> Physical/Chemical Methods, SW-846, Chapter 11, 11.4.3 (c) states: "samples containing less <br /> than 5 N.T.U. turbidity are acceptable for analysis when the analytic method is sensitive to <br /> turbidity (such as the analysis of metals). Samples containing greater than 5 N.T.U. are only <br /> acceptable when well development is certified by a qualified hydrogeologist as the best <br /> obtainable." <br /> According to ASTM Standard D5092-04: Standard Practice for Design and Installation of <br /> Ground Water Monitoring Wells: "...development should be continued until representative <br /> water, free of the drilling fluids, cuttings, or other materials introduced or produced during well <br /> construction, is obtained. Representative water is assumed to have been obtained when <br /> turbidity readings stabilize and the water is visually clear of suspended solids... The timing and <br /> duration of well development and the turbidity measurements should be recorded on the well <br /> completion diagram." <br /> As discussed during our conference call on 11 May 2011, Musco must re-develop the wells to <br /> obtain the lowest turbidity value consistent with the SW-846 and the ASTM Standard <br /> discussed above. If the wells can not be cleaned up due to improperly sized well screens and <br /> filter pack, then these wells may need to be replaced. As required by the ASTM Standard, the <br /> timing and duration of well development, and turbidity measurements, shall be recorded on <br /> revised well completion logs. <br /> Determination of Groundwater Flow Direction <br /> The report discusses the use of"equilibrated" groundwater elevations from wells MW-10R, <br /> MW-18R, MW-20R, and MW-21 R to construct a groundwater flow model across the area of <br /> the ponds and states that the gradient across this area is 0.01 feet per foot with a groundwater <br /> flow direction toward the northeast. To calculate groundwater flow direction and gradient all <br /> the wells of interest in the vicinity of the surface impoundments must be used. Those wells <br /> include: MW-10R, MW-12, MW-17, MW-18, MW-18R, MW-20, MW-20R, MW-21, MW-21R, <br /> MW-22, and MW-32. This list does not incorporate all wells surrounding the surface <br /> impoundments, but only those that are newly or recently installed or have recently gone dry. <br /> Groundwater elevations for the newly installed wells are not reported on Figure 7 or Figure 8; <br /> the report does not provide field data sheets or a table summarizing depth to water <br /> measurements of the newly installed wells recorded during sampling events; and the report <br /> does not provide calculated groundwater elevations above mean sea level. The report <br /> California Environmental Protection Agency <br />