| March 27, 1996 | Release No.356 Contact: Phyllis Graber Jensen 207-786-6330 (office) 207-784-6240 (home) |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Bates College Geology Students Make a Difference in Mexico
LEWISTON, Maine -- Bates College geology students will present the results
of their work in Zimapán, Mexico, at the 1996 Northeastern Section
Meeting
of the Geological Society of America on Friday
Erica Montgomery and Sara Tichenor, seniors at Bates College, spent the
summer of 1995 analyzing the structural geology and aqueous geochemistry
of the ground water aquifers in Zimapán, Mexico. They were working
under the direction of Lois Ongley (Bates
College), Aurora Armienta (National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico), Alison Lathrop (Millersville University, Pa.) and Helen Mango (Castleton State College, Vt.).
The drinking water in Zimapán has an average arsenic concentration of
0.3 mg/L. The WHO drinking water standard is 0.05 mg/L. The residents of
Zimapán are beginning to show ill health effects of chronic arsenic
poisoning which include skin cancer and
kidney and liver disease. Montgomery and Tichenor are trying to determine the source of the arsenic and the pathway by which it enters the groundwater supply.
Montgomery made a geologic map of the area of El Muhi, near the public water supply well with the highest concentration of arsenic (1.1 mg/L). Tichenor was part of a team that sought out sources of drinking water (wells and springs) to analyze the water
chemistry. A significant result of this work is that the municipal authorities have closed the El Muhi well and opened another, the San Pedro Profundo, whose water has much less arsenic (0.006 mg/L).
Montgomery, a resident of Lancaster, Pa., plans to become a secondary school teacher after graduation. Tichenor, from Washington, D.C., is planning a career in geochemistry.
For further information about Montgomery and Tichenor's presentation,
"Arsenic Contaminated Water, Zimapán, Mexico," contact Phyllis Graber
Jensen of College Relations, Bates College, at 207-786-6330.
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