Monitor wells will keep track of tainted groundwater on Anderson-Tully Co. property, state environmental officials said Tuesday. The contamination is not a threat to humans, they added.

Representatives of Anderson-Tully and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality met Tuesday with three members of the Warren County Board of Supervisors to discuss a deal to monitor arsenic in groundwater on land the company bought to build an access road off North Washington Street last year.

Anderson-Tully, based in Memphis, owns timberland and has operated lumber mills here for more than 100 years.

If the company accepts an offer from Earth Consulting Group Inc. of Madison, it will pay the company $3,465 to draw a compliance monitoring plan and contingency plan to contain the contamination to the property.

The polluted water was found to contain 431 parts per billion of arsenic, said Chris Hawkins, environmental engineer for MDEQ, well above the legal limit of 10 parts per gallon. The contamination will not affect any human use, but the department treats all groundwater as potential drinking water, Hawkins said, and requires annual monitoring.

Monitoring wells would be about 20 feet deep, he said. City wells to pump drinking water are more than 200 feet deep.

&#8220We want to impose a restricted-use order to make us feel good that the (arsenic) is staying on site,” Hawkins said. &#8220There shouldn’t be any human use hazards … there’s no problem with that.”

Arsenic is a naturally occurring poison. The original cause of the contamination was unknown, but likely manmade because of its density, he said.

Attorneys representing Anderson-Tully said the DEQ’s annual plan for monitoring was &#8220overkill,” because the contamination was not in a hazardous area, and from its location could flow only into the Mississippi River, which already has higher arsenic levels than the contaminated water. With no clear threat, they said, the monitoring – at several thousand dollars per inspection – should be employed as infrequently as possible.

&#8220The source is gone. There’s nothing coming in,” said attorney Michael Caples of Butler, Snow, O’Mara, Stevens and Canada in Jackson. &#8220Who cares? Even if it moves we’re not going to do anything with it.”

MDEQ regulations require monitoring, however, Hawkins said, though he added the frequency of inspections is flexible. After two or three problem-free years, the annual monitoring schedule can slacken to once every two years, and eventually less, he said.

The board would not be taking any action, and was only acting to bring the two sides together and to keep abreast of the negotiations, said District 4 Supervisor Carl Flanders.

&#8220We’re just here to listen,” said Flanders, who attended the meeting along with District 1 Supervisor David McDonald and District 5 Supervisor Don Banks. &#8220Any compelling issue is between the DEQ and Anderson-Tully.”