Ellijay-Gilmer County Water and Sewerage Authority board members gave the go-ahead for the water authority to explore using the Carmeuse mines in southern Gilmer County as a potential groundwater source when meeting Monday, July 25.
Water authority director Gary McVey said the water authority has received a proposal from Petrologic Solutions, of Douglasville, to conduct groundwater resource exploration and development on the Carmeuse property. The company has worked with Carmeuse and is very familiar with the property, McVey noted.
“They have provided us with a proposal to, if everything goes OK, help us start analyzing the data all the way through putting a well and pump in and getting ready to pump water,” McVey told board members Mike Gibbs, Hubert Parker, Tony Whitaker, Don Callihan and Billy Rowe.
The potential groundwater source is a water vein near the limestone mine. Two sites are being looked at as potential groundwater resources, McVey noted. One is near the active Carmeuse mine on Talona Road, and the other is north of the mine.
McVey said Carmeuse already has to have water pumped out of the mines, which is why they’ve used the Petrologic company.
If the groundwater could be pumped from the water vein before it gets to the mine, it could go directly into the water system with only a chlorine fluoride treatment, he added.
“There is water in the mines, but it has been contaminated by trucks driving in the mines. It has to have a conventional treatment. You have to tap into the water vein before then to get to it,” McVey said.
A well would have to be drilled to reach the groundwater, McVey noted.
“They (Petrologic Solutions) determine where in the ground this water vein is that they can tap in to. They will drill a test well and put a pump in (to) calculate how much water they can pump by watching the draw down on this well,” he added.
Parker asked if the company works for both Carmeuse and the water authority, where would their loyalty lie. Whitaker asked if the company currently has a contract with Carmeuse, to which McVey said he will find out.
“Carmeuse used them because they needed to figure out a way to get water out of the mines,” he added. “They work for Carmeuse as needed. They’re not on their payroll all the time. When they’re working for us, they’re working for us.”
The water board approved a lump sum expense of $37,000 for engineering costs for the groundwater exploration, which will be spent on multiple phases of the project. McVey said $150,000 for source water engineering is included in the 2022-23 budget. Additional costs for well drilling will follow if that phase of the project is reached, he noted.
“The reason I think this price is super low is these guys already have a lot of data. They are familiar with (the property) and they already have ideas of where they think the groundwater could be collected. This also includes helping us with any permitting through EPD. They can help us navigate that permitting process,” McVey said.