PVC Project Shuts Down ‘Arsenic and Old Pipe’ in North Dakota Town

OAKES, N.D., Sept. 3, 2010 — A multi-million dollar infrastructure project in this small city in southeastern North Dakota is replacing World War II-era underground sewer and water pipes with a new polyvinyl chloride (PVC) system.

The new PVC pipes will eliminate the problem of unsafe levels of arsenic in the water.

In 2001, the Environmental Protection Agency determined healthy drinking levels of arsenic should be lowered from 50 parts per billion to 10 ppb, beginning in January 2006. 

Tests of Oakes’ three wells in 2006 indicated levels of 14 ppb to 26 ppb, and Oakes was one of 26 North Dakota towns not to meet the new standard.

Installation of a new water treatment plant that year brought the arsenic level of the plant’s outflow to acceptable levels, but there was still arsenic in the sewer and water pipes under the roadways.

Moore Engineering then hired Kuechle Underground Inc. to replace sanitary sewer and water pipes, a project that began in August 2009.  The project is being funded by a $2.8 million loan and $2.2 million grant from North Dakota's Agriculture Department's Rural Development agency.  The project will be completed this fall.

According to Moore Engineering project manager Jerod Klabunde, the new PVC pipes will last longer than the 30 years that the 1,800 Oakes residents will be paying off the $2.8 million loan.

"The city will not be doing something like this again for a very, very long time," Klabunde said.

The Vinyl Institute represents the leading manufacturers involved in the production of PVC/vinyl resin in the United States, and promotes the value of PVC/vinyl products to society. 

For more information on The Vinyl Institute, contact:
Jeffrey B. Palmer
Director of Marketing & Communications
The Vinyl Institute
571-970-3327
jpalmer@vinylinfo.org

Also go to:  www.vinylindesign.com, www.vinylinfo.com, and www.achievegreen.net.