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Carbon tetrachloride contamination was initially identified in Morrill PWS Well #5 well in October 1985 during a statewide testing of public water supply wells. A Preliminary Assessment was conducted by KDHE in 1989 to identify potential sources of the contamination. Since 1991, the city of Morrill has obtained its water by pipeline from the municipal water supply of Sabetha.

A Comprehensive Investigation performed in 1994-1995 under the State Water Plan program found carbon tetrachloride above the Kansas Risk level of 5 micrograms per liter (µg/L) in groundwater at PWS #5 near the former Commodity Credit Corporation/United States Department of Agriculture (CCC/USDA) grain storage facility in Morrill, thereby identifying the facility as a source. CCC/USDA tasked Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) with a Phase I/Phase II Investigation in 2003 to: verify the association of carbon tetrachloride with the former facility; verify the contaminant migration pathway; and identify any domestic wells located outside the Morrill city limits that are downgradient from and within one mile of the former facility and thus are potential receptors. CCC/USDA installed and sampled six monitoring wells at the site in 2004. Results indicated that additional sampling points were required southwest of the site to delineate the extent of groundwater contamination.

KDHE approved semi-annual sampling at the site to observe changes in plume dynamics and geochemistry and to determine whether natural attenuation is a viable remedial option. The first of these sampling events occurred in September 2005. Preliminary results indicated that concentrations of carbon tetrachloride may be increasing at the site. Additional monitoring wells were installed and sampled in 2006. Results indicated that carbon tetrachloride-contaminated groundwater was approaching the nearby Terrapin Creek. The 2008 groundwater and surface water sampling by ANL indicated that breakthrough to the surface water at Terrapin Creek has not yet occurred. Vegetation sampling indicates limited uptake of carbon tetrachloride along the creek and along the flow path from the site.

Vapor intrusion testing for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) related to carbon tetrachloride concentration in the groundwater occurred in August 2010. None of the 10 houses sampled had detections of carbon tetrachloride. A move to biennially groundwater monitoring at site was approved in 2019, however, private wells are to be sampled on an annual basis.