Alton Nitschke, and his wife, Arlene, who are concerned about the quality and quantity of water that will be discharged onto their land, are appealing a permit that the Burleigh County Water Resource District granted to itself for a drainage project meant to remove excessive groundwater from the subdivision.
The Nitschkes, who own about 40 acres of land and have lived south of Hay Creek Pines for 24 years, say the groundwater has been polluted by coliform and other contaminants.
At this point, I don’t think it’s something that should be put above ground," said Alton Nitschke, who expressed concern his land will turn to alkali due to the contaminated groundwater.
"We have some of the best soil in Burleigh County, I’m told, and this would destroy that," Alton Nitschke said.
The latter two of which were not tested by the county.
One of the tested wells had a sulfate reading of 5,680. A safe level for consumption by livestock is from 500 to 1,000, according to the NDSU Extension Service.
"Based on the projected quantity of discharges, the sulfate levels are not a concern," said Michael Gunsch, project manager of Houston Engineering. "There are flows on Hay Creek in other locations, without such projects, that have elevated sulfate levels.
“They did not test anything that was going to be bad rapport for them,” Arlene Nitschke said.