Abandoned Wells Threaten Children and Groundwater

Abandoned wells are a serious threat to water quality and pose potential risks to animals and people. To highlight the issue, the California Groundwater Association and San Diego County Department of Environmental Health staged a proper destruction of an abandoned well recently.

The demonstration destroyed an abandoned 4-foot diameter by 46-foot deep well on a residential lot in Dulzura in San Diego County. Seventeen feet of static water was chlorinated and sanitized, followed by layering 15 tons of gravel and bentonite chips. Twelve yards of sand/cement slurry was pumped into the well to bring the borehole up to within five-foot of ground surface. Topsoil was then used to fill the rest of the hole.

"The dangers of unused, open wells is a state-wide concern," says Mike Mortensson, executive director of California Groundwater Association, noting "there may be numerous abandoned wells in California, covered with little else than rotting wood. To protect yourself and your area's groundwater resource, we urge well owners to work with licensed contractors to eliminate these potential hazards."

Tips on how to prevent tragedies and protect groundwater resources:

• Know what's on your property, whether you own, lease or rent. Watch for signs of a pit or well covered with sheet metal or plywood. Mark it if you find one and contact a licensed water well drilling contractor for assistance in either protecting or destroying the well.
• If you use it, cover it to prevent anyone from contaminating your well water—it's a valuable resource. Licensed water well contractors can insure your well is properly capped and sealed to prevent contamination.
• If you don't use it, destroy it. California law requires well destruction to be done by a licensed C-57 Water Well Drilling contractor.
• Pass the word. Tell neighbors, friends, co-workers, community groups and church members to check their properties for abandoned wells.

Persons can contact the California Groundwater Association for referral to a licensed contractor.

"Proper well destruction can prevent human tragedy, too," Mortensson says. The recent well destruction project recalled the tragedy of 1949 when 3-year-old Kathy Fiscus of San Marino fell into a well while playing with her sister. Despite a 52-hour rescue attempt, Kathy died a few hours after falling into the 100' deep well. The story touched the emotions of people across the nation. KTLA in Los Angeles provided continuous 27 1/2 hour live coverage, a landmark broadcast for a time when TV was a flickering new novelty and not taken seriously by many people.

The toddler's mother, Alice Fiscus, issued a renewed warning to parents and workers this year. "I have a message for parents, as well as workmen: Don't just think of a well or a dangerous hole being just where you can see it!" she says. "An abandoned well can be anywhere—in plain view or hidden by weeds. Kathy's accident happened in a large vacant acreage where weeds and agriculture had grown.

"The well was almost 100 feet deep, with only a 14 or 15 inch opening, and even with the ground. I heard just recently that neighborhood boys had known it was there, but only because they had thought it was fun to drop rocks down as a game to see how long it would take to hit bottom. Otherwise no one knew it was there! Kathy was only missing for about 2 or 3 minutes, but it took almost an hour to hear her crying. Otherwise we might never have known what happened to her!

"A lot of kids had played in that vacant acreage. Maybe they talked about it around some adults. No one will ever know. So listen to your children when they talk about where they play! If anyone hears about an open hole, large or small, report it. You never know how deep it might be until someone investigates it. It may save a life. I even shudder each time I see any size hole filled with rain water or runoff water. How easy it could be for a child to drown. Again, who knows how deep it might be?"

"Preventing tragic loss of life or the tragic loss of valuable water supplies by needless contamination are ample reasons why all Californians should support the location and destruction of abandoned wells," Mortensson concludes. "We'd like to tell Alice Fiscus that Californians have heard her message about Kathy falling in a well and have acted to prevent similar deaths."

The California Groundwater Association represents 14,000 groundwater professionals working with water well owners throughout the state. The CGA is a non-profit organization whose mission is: Caring for California's groundwater resources, giving high quality service to members and public, and acting in the best interest of the groundwater industry.