ADVANCES IN GROUNDWATER PROTECTION IN MARION COUNTY, INDIANA

Public water utilities in Marion County, Indiana rely on groundwater to supply over 25 percent of its drinking water to its almost one million residents. However, much of the land overlying this important groundwater resource is used for business and industrial purposes which presents the potential for groundwater contamination.

Three mechanisms are now in place for ensuring wellfield protection: the Marion County Wellfield Education Corporation (MCWEC), the Wellfield Protection Zoning Ordinance (City of Indianapolis) and the Wellfield Protection Health Code (Marion County Public Health Department). MCWEC was founded in 1996 and provides free assistance for safe chemical storage, handling, and waste management to businesses located in wellfields. The Wellfield Zoning Ordinance, first enacted in 1996 and modified several times since, requires new businesses and construction that are located in the wellfields and may be capable of polluting groundwater to undergo review and regulation by a Technically Qualified Person (TQP). The Marion County Public Health Department has recently passed its Wellfield Protection Health Code that applies to existing businesses in wellfields and requires changes to business operations to reduce the threat of groundwater contamination.

Of Marion County’s 2,300 active businesses located within wellfields, about 1,000 have been identified as potential contaminant sources due to their business practices. However, only about 165 businesses have voluntarily participated in MCWEC’s free consulting, and only about 375 businesses have been regulated through the TQP program. Ensuring TQP requirements for construction has also not been a zoning enforcement priority, and full compliance has not been readily achieved. Additional mechanisms for wellfield protection are clearly needed, along with consideration of protecting groundwater resources that are outside the bounds of the currently defined wellfields.

Future efforts to assure the protection of groundwater in Marion County will need to maximize collaboration between the voluntary business assistance provided by MCWEC, regulation of new businesses through the TQP, and regulation of existing businesses through the new health code.