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Adjacent to the east of the project site is the Oakmoore Private Golf Club. The well system that services this Club and some surrounding end-users has been contaminated with formaldehyde. According to San Joaquin County records, this contamination apparently occurred from the State Office of the Department of Fish and Game, located to the north of the Club site. Remediation of this contamination has not been initiated at this time. V. NITRATE LOADING With the data presented thus far, we will now focus on the critical issue of potential nitrate contamination originating from the project. High nitrate concentrations in drinking water can have severe deleterious effects on infants or fetuses. The E.P.A. has determined that 10 mg per liter of NO3-N or 45 mg per liter NO3 in drinking water is the maximum contaminant level. One of the most important factors for septic systems to cause nitrate contamination of groundwater is the density of systems per unit area. Looking at the location of the Open Air Mall, we see relatively low density septic systems to the north, east and west of the site. However to the south, which can be considered somewhat crossgradient to the project, there is medium density housing on septic systems. Within a one mile radius of the project, on average, there is approximately one septic system for every six acres. In addition, these systems vary in magnitude from a single family residence to large commercial and industrial complexes. Consequently, it is difficult to quantify any impact these systems may be producing on the underlying groundwater, although based upon the low density, it is most Llikely minimal. Sewage flushed into septic tanks usually contains very little nitrate. Approximately 114 to 113 of the nitrogen (N) in sewage is part of fecal protein with the remainder composed of urea, which is the main compound of urine. Proteins and urea are split by a bacterial enzyme into ammonia and carbon dioxide. Ammonia combines with water to form ammonium ions which are bacterially oxidized to nitrate. This process is called nitrification. The difficulty arises in attempting to predict how much N each person will liberate on-site. Since information regarding the number and type of restroom fixtures is not available at this 9 Vaffey Ag 7fsearch