NDCA

Posted on Sun, Jan. 06, 2008

Magnitude of TCE dumping eludes MB, agency says

Tests for toxin weren’t required

By David Wren - The Sun News

Myrtle Beach officials probably will never know how much trichloroethylene AVX Corp. dumped into the city’s sewer system because regulators did not require testing for the toxic chemical until after the dumping had occurred, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.

“It is possible that Myrtle Beach’s wastewater treatment plant would not have noticed any TCE [trichloroethylene] coming into the system,” DHEC spokesman Thom Berry said last week.

“TCE and [similar] volatile organic compounds were not required tests for wastewater systems by federal or state regulations in the mid-1990s,” he said.

The health risks associated with TCE have become better known over the past decade, and the EPA says exposure to the chemical has been linked with cancer and other illnesses.

State and federal regulators now require testing for TCE and similar chemicals at wastewater treatment plants.

AVX executives have not responded to requests for comment by The Sun News and have not discussed the issue with city officials.

Myrtle Beach spokesman Mark Kruea said last week the city does not know if any TCE made its way into the sewer system. The city still is looking for any records that would indicate whether contamination occurred, he said.

Electronics manufacturer AVX illegally dumped groundwater laced with TCE, an industrial degreaser, into the sewer at its 17th Avenue South facility from at least 1985 to 1996, according to a consent order the company signed with DHEC in 1996.

The earliest test for TCE that the city can find is from May 2000 - at least 15 years after AVX started dumping the water into the sewer.

That test, and subsequent tests, have not shown any contamination beyond what the Environmental Protection Agency considers a safe level.

TCE evaporates quickly, and Berry said it is possible that any contamination that discharged into the city’s wastewater treatment plant would have broken down during an aeration process at the facility.

The fact that no tests were done, however, means little can be known for certain about TCE in the city’s sewer system during the 1980s and 90s, state and city officials say.

Kruea said the city plans to test groundwater at property it owns near AVX to see if there is any TCE contamination there. Those tests will be done in the coming weeks.

DHEC also ordered AVX to conduct air-sampling tests at some sites where TCE has been found in groundwater. Results of those tests could be known as early as this week, Berry said.

DHEC also has ordered tests for several parts of Withers Swash, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean, to determine TCE levels there.

While any past contamination probably would be limited to the city’s sewer system, environmental experts say it is possible - although unlikely - that TCE could have made its way into drinking water in the early to mid-1980s.

The city used deep-water wells for its drinking water supply until a municipal water treatment plant went online in 1987. One of those wells is on land adjacent to AVX’s facility on 17th Avenue South. Another is on 13th Avenue South, where TCE contamination was found in shallow groundwater.

TCE, which is heavier than water, sinks to the bottom of aquifers and forms large pools called plumes. It can take decades to treat and clean contaminated groundwater.

Depending on an area’s geography and well construction, TCE in shallow groundwater can migrate to deeper wells used for drinking water, according to Lenny Siegel, an EPA consultant and TCE expert.

The drinking water wells in Myrtle Beach are located between 400 feet and 600 feet below the ground’s surface. That is far deeper than the contaminated groundwater, which is located about 40 feet below the surface.

In between those two depths is the Pee Dee formation, which is a muddy aquitard that keeps TCE from sinking.

Geologists say the only way TCE could have gotten into the city’s drinking water is if one of the deep-water wells located near shallow contamination was poorly grouted, and the toxic chemical went down the annular space between the well’s casing and borehole wall.

Kruea said the city has not had any problems with the wells or the piping and called TCE intrusion “highly unlikely.”

Myrtle Beach has capped most of the 31 deep-water wells it previously used, including the one at 13th Avenue South. The city still has nine deep-water wells available for emergencies. One of those emergency wells is near AVX at 17th Avenue South.

“Obviously, given the current information, we would not use water from that well in an emergency situation,” Kruea said.

AVX learned it had high levels of TCE contamination in groundwater at its property as early as 1991, but did not tell state regulators or city officials about the problem until 14 years later.

TCE contamination now has migrated from AVX to groundwater in a 10-block section of Myrtle Beach, environmental tests show. The contamination is not in the city’s drinking water.

Myrtle Beach officials did not learn about the sewer dumping and contamination problems until recently, when the issues were brought to the public’s attention through a series of reports in The Sun News.

DHEC last month narrowed the area where TCE contamination exists to a 10-block parcel north of AVX, sandwiched between Beaver Road and Kings Highway.

Environmental tests last year showed TCE levels as high as 19,200 parts per billion on land near AVX. The EPA has set the safe level at five parts per billion.

A part per billion is a measurement that would be equal to about one penny in $10 million or one minute in 2,000 years.

Environmental tests on AVX property in the 1990s showed very high levels of TCE and similar chemicals in the groundwater - as much as 711,000 parts per billion.

AVX tried to secretly clean up the TCE by installing nine wells on its property between 1985 to 1987, according to the consent order. Those wells pumped contaminated groundwater into non-contact cooling towers. Such towers usually are used by manufacturers to cool equipment, but they also can be a low-cost way to treat contaminated groundwater.

AVX installed additional wells in 1991 and 1992 for those purposes, according to the consent order.

After the water left the cooling towers, it was discharged into the city’s sewer system, according to the consent order.

DHEC officials said last month that AVX’s treatment plan was only marginally effective.

The agency worked with the manufacturer to improve cleanup efforts after AVX signed the consent order.

That consent order said AVX violated the state’s pollution control and water quality laws. The manufacturer did not admit to any wrongdoing. AVX paid a $7,000 fine as part of the consent order.

The consent order says AVX also secretly excavated and removed contaminated soil from its property between 1981 and 1995. Some of that soil was spread out on the AVX site so the TCE would evaporate.

The trenches that were created by soil excavation also were left exposed on AVX property so TCE and other chemicals would evaporate, according to the consent order.

An adjacent property owner, Horry Land Co., accused AVX in a lawsuit filed late last year of dumping some of the contaminated soil on its property. AVX denies the allegation in court filings.

Horry Land wants AVX to pay $5.4 million for the damaged property. A tentative trial date has been set for late this year.

AVX also is facing a class-action suit filed by Surfside Beach lawyer Gene Connell on behalf of people who own property near the manufacturing facility.

Connell says the contamination has ruined property values, and he wants AVX to pay the fair-market value for all of the land where TCE exists in groundwater.

AVX denies the allegations and has asked a judge to dismiss the case.

No court date has been set in that case.

News for Release: Thursday, Dec. 20, 2007
 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

W.R. Grace to Pay Toward Cleanup of Hazardous Waste Sites

Contact: Roxanne Smith, (202) 564-4355 / smith.roxanne@epa.gov


(Washington, D.C. - Dec. 20, 2007)  W.R. Grace has agreed to a $34 million bankruptcy settlement for cleanup costs at 32 Superfund sites across the country, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Justice announced today. This action settles a bankruptcy claim brought by the federal government to recover money for site cleanup.

“Bankruptcy is not a safe haven to avoid environmental responsibilities,” said Catherine McCabe, principal deputy assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “EPA will keep pursuing companies who pollute the environment.”

“This settlement will make money available to substantially help the cleanup of many Superfund sites around the country,” said Ronald J. Tenpas, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “This settlement is a good outcome for both the taxpayers and the environment.”

The federal government determined that the company contributed to the contamination at the sites under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, commonly referred to as Superfund. The settlement will be used to reimburse EPA for past costs and to pay for future costs associated with cleaning up at hazardous waste sites in 18 states. Superfund is the federal program that investigates and cleans up the most complex uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country.

W.R. Grace and 61 affiliated companies filed for bankruptcy in April 2001. In March 2003, EPA filed claims against the company to recover past and future cleanup costs. EPA will be able to pursue its claim once the bankruptcy court confirms a reorganization plan with the company.

W.R. Grace is a global supplier of specialty chemicals. The company has corporate headquarters in Columbia, Md. and employees in nearly 40 countries.

The settlement agreement will be lodged in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware and is subject to court approval after a 30-day public comment period. 

Superfund site names and locations:
                                                                                   
Acton Plant Site, Acton, Mass.
Amber Oil (Eco-Tech) Site, Milwaukee, Wis.                                           
Aqua Tech Site, Greer, S.C.
Cambridge Plant Site, Cambridge, Mass.                                                
Casmalia Resources Site, Santa Barbara, Calif.                                      
Central Chemical Site, Hagerstown, Md.                                     
Galaxy/Spectron Site, Elkton, Md.                                                         
Green River Site, Maceo, Ky.                                                                 
Harrington Tools Site, Glendale, Calif.                                                     
Intermountain Insulation Site, Salt Lake City, Utah                                   
IWI Site, Summit, Ill.                                                                             
Li Tungsten Site, Glen Cove, N.Y.                                                          
Malone Services Co. Site, Texas County, Texas                          
N-Forcer Site, Dearborn, Mich.                                                               
Operating Industries Site, Monterey Park, Calif.               
R&H Oil/Tropicana Site, San Antonio, Texas                                           
RAMP Industries Site, Denver, Colo.                                                       
Reclamation Oil Site, Detroit, Mich.                                                        
Robinson Insulation Site, Minot, N.D.                                                      
Solvents Recovery Service of New England Site, Southington, Conn.         
Vermiculite Intermountain Site, Salt Lake City, Utah                                
Vermiculite Northwest Site, Spokane, Wash.                                          
Wauconda Sand and Gravel Superfund Site Wauconda, Ill.                       
Watson Johnson Landfill Site, Richland Township, Pa.
Wells G&H Site, Woburn, Mass.
Western Minerals Processing Site, Denver, Colo.                        
Western Minerals Products Site, Minneapolis, Minn.                                
Zonolite Co./W.R. Grace Site, Ellwood City, Pa.
Zonolite Co./Grace Site, Hamilton Township, N.J.            
Zonolite Co./W.R. Grace Site, New Castle, Pa.   
Zonolite Co./W.R. Grace Site, Prince George’s County, Md.
Zonolite Co./W.R. Grace Site, Wilder, Ky.
           
More information on the W.R. Grace bankruptcy settlement:  http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/cases/cleanup/cercla/grace-global.html


More information on Cleanup Enforcement: http://www.epa.gov/compliance/cleanup

 
Help EPA protect our nation’s land, air and water by reporting violations: http://www.epa.gov/tips

Air study results are inconclusive

By SCOTT STREATER

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

Mon, Dec. 10, 2007

A long-awaited study of air pollution in Midlothian found levels of potentially dangerous benzene, arsenic, lead and other toxic chemicals at levels that exceed the most conservative health screening limits and “could be interpreted as posing a public health hazard.”

But state and federal health officials nonetheless concluded that more study is needed before saying “the extent of the public health hazard posed by air contaminants in Midlothian,” according to the report, obtained by the Star-Telegram.

The health consultation, which is set to be released Tuesday, found huge gaps in air monitoring and health-screening data and recommended that the state collect more air samples and research toxicology literature to further assess potential health risks. The draft report will be open for public comment beginning Tuesday, before final recommendations are made.

“We found that the majority of the risks associated with exposure to the chemicals analyzed in this health consultation were low,” according to the 128-page report. “However, we are classifying this site as an Indeterminate Public Health Hazard because further information is needed.”

The study was at the request of Midlothian residents, some of whom were disappointed by the vague findings.

The report does not name the individual sources responsible for pollution, nor does it guarantee recommendations will be followed. Its vague conclusions are likely to fan debate over whether state regulators need to crack down on industrial polluters in Ellis County, southeast of Fort Worth.

“I don’t know that we’ll ever have all of the answers,” said Midlothian Mayor Boyce Whatley, who had not seen the study late Sunday. “I would hope that the studies, if they are ever conclusive, show there are no long-term health effects because of the industrial emissions out here. But as a mayor and as a resident, certainly I want as much information as possible, and if there are additional studies that have to be done, I would favor those.”

So does Sal Mier and his wife, Grace, who spearheaded a petition signed by 371 residents that prompted federal health officials in July 2005 to study pollution in the city.

Mier, who until retiring in 1994 managed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s five-state regional office in Dallas, said he just wants answers, and was disappointed. He has lined up a group of national and regional scientists to review the study and ensure that researchers used the latest peer-reviewed methodology.

“It’s not that we’re pushing for a negative outcome, but in arriving at this decision we’re not sure the most current science was factored in,” he said.

MIDLOTHIAN HEALTH ASSESSMENT

The study

The federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry and the Texas Department of State Health Services agreed in 2005 to investigate whether air pollution in Midlothian is making people there sick. The study was undertaken after 371 Midlothian residents petitioned the federal agency to investigate the issue. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry has no regulatory power and can only make recommendations.

Data gaps

A key component of the report is that it highlights gaps in data on a number of industrial pollutants, such as dioxins — a group of chemical compounds known to cause cancer. Because the state does not routinely collect air data for dioxins, and the consultation is based mostly on historical air sampling from state air monitors, the researchers could not address the issue even though it was one of the main concerns of the petitioners. They also could not evaluate asthma, immune system deficiencies and other health problems for the same reason. What’s more, researchers reported there are no health-based screening levels for 87 of the 113 contaminants the researchers measured. “Additional information is needed to determine the public health significance of these contaminants,” they reported.

Why it’s important

The study is expected to prompt additional research and will likely renew debate over whether regulation of Ellis County industrial polluters should be stepped up. Midlothian’s three cement plants — Holcim, Ash Grove and TXI Operations — and Chaparral Steel are among the largest industrial polluters in North Texas.

Contaminants of concern

These are some of the chemicals measured at high levels in the air in Midlothian:

Arsenic: No longer produced in the U.S., it has been used as a wood preservative and in pesticides; it is a known human carcinogen.

Lead: A metal, it is linked to behavioral and developmental disorders, and it can damage the lungs and kidney in adults and children. It is listed as a possible carcinogen.

Benzene: A highly flammable liquid used primarily to make other chemicals that are used to make products such as Styrofoam, dyes, detergents, drugs and pesticides.

1,2-Dichloroethane: A synthetic liquid most commonly used to make vinyl chloride, it is listed by the federal government as a probable human carcinogen.

For more information

The study is scheduled to be available Tuesday on the Texas Department of State Health Services Web site, www.dshs.state.tx.us/epitox/midlothian/midlothian.shtml

SCOTT STREATER, 817-390-7657
sstreater@star-telegram.com

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/350738.html

Scientist: Chemical may be more toxic than officials think

By Tim Damos

–

A toxic and potentially cancer-causing chemical dumped at a Baraboo Army Ammunition Plant years ago could be more dangerous than federal and state officials think, one scientist warns.

Wisconsin might become the first state to set groundwater standards for certain forms of a chemical known as DNT that was used by the Army to manufacture explosives. Army officials say state regulators are being overly cautious, and a local environmental group says Wisconsin is on the right track.

“Hopefully, (the Army) can be adult about this and recognize there is a problem that resulted from their activities,” said Dr. Peter deFur, a scientific consultant hired by the nonprofit group Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger. “They should clean up after themselves.”

The Badger Army Ammunition Plant south of Baraboo was operational during conflicts from World War II through the Vietnam War. Clean-up efforts at the 7,000-acre plant, built in 1942, have been under way since the Army said the plant would no longer be needed in 1995.

DNT attacks the cardiovascular, nervous and reproductive systems and can cause headaches, fatigue, nausea, vomiting and chest pain, according to a state toxicologist’s report. Some studies suggest it may cause cancer.

DNR reports show that all forms of the chemical have been found in groundwater from the base of the Baraboo bluffs to Prairie du Sac.

The state has a groundwater standard for two forms of DNT, which guide the Army’s clean-up efforts. The other four forms — which aren’t regulated — only made up a small portion of what was used to make explosives. But they have been found in greater proportions in monitoring wells in and around Badger, suggesting they aren’t breaking down as quickly as the regulated types of DNT, deFur said.

“The more toxic forms are the ones that hang around the longest,” he said.

In May, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources asked state public health specialists to set temporary guidelines for the four unregulated forms of DNT, for which there are no state or federal standards.

A state toxicologist suggested the DNR limit the total concentration of all six forms of DNT to .05 parts per billion, which would be stricter than current standards. The DNR accepted the findings and set an interim drinking water health advisory.

An Army toxicologist disagreed with the state’s findings, saying there hasn’t been enough research on the unregulated forms of DNT to justify a health advisory.

“That’s a hollow argument, in my estimation,” deFur said. “Because it claims ignorance is an excuse for not protecting people.”

There’s no telling what DNT might do to small children, deFur said, because the data just isn’t available.

Army toxicologist Emily May LaFiandra directed the News Republic’s questions to an Army spokeswoman.

“We are advising our client, Badger, that we believe more studies need to be done to reach a clear scientific answer about human health effects (of the unregulated forms of DNT),” U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion & Preventive Medicine spokeswoman and public affairs officer Lyn Kukral said in an e-mail. “However, we are recognizing that the responsibility for determining a standard and enacting it belongs to the state of Wisconsin.”

The Army toxicologist used old data to reach her conclusion, deFur said, and the state should set even tougher standards than the interim advisory they have now.

Kukral didn’t respond specifically to deFur’s comments, which also were sent to state public health officials on behalf of Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger.

The DNR is beginning the process of setting a permanent groundwater standard for all forms of DNT. It will seek input from interested parties before setting a standard that will be approved by state lawmakers.

If a standard is set next year, it could influence other states to do the same, said Laura Olah, director of Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger. That could mean more headaches for Army officials trying to get sites deemed clean.

She said the action taken by the DNR is the result of unusually strict groundwater testing around the plant.

“Badger is the only plant we know of that’s testing the four less-common forms of DNT,” she said. “Unfortunately, Badger is just one of the Army plants that has this contamination.”

http://www.wiscnews.com/bnr/news/259764

Laura Olah, Executive Director

Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger

E12629 Weigand’s Bay South

Merrimac, WI  53561

(608)643-3124

Email: info@cswab.org

Website: www.cswab.org

How safe is water from the tap?

template_bas

template_bas

Although chemical pollutants had tainted parts of Southern California groundwater, the drinking water is free of solvents.

By Mary Beckman, Special to The Times
December 3, 2007

FOR years before the mid-1980s, groundwater in parts of Southern California was contaminated with toxic solvents, yet the federal body responsible for tracking this didn’t investigate the potential health threat to people who were drinking contaminated tap water. A congressional committee is now investigating why that neglect occurred.

Here’s a closer look at what scientists know about the main solvents of concern and their health effects.

Drinking water safety

Trichloroethylene (TCE) and the related compound tetrachloroethylene, also known as perchloroethylene (PCE or PERC), are industrial solvents still used to clean up grease and to dry-clean clothes. For a long time, their use was unregulated and many companies across the nation disposed of them in such a way that they leached into drinking water sources.

In 1980, the Environmental Protection Agency started a Superfund project to clean up a variety of chemical pollutants. The effort includes getting the perpetrators of improper TCE and PCE disposal, many of them defense contractors, to help remove the worst of the contamination across the country.

What problems do these closely related solvents cause?

Scientists know that TCE can cause cancer — usually of the kidneys, liver and lungs — at high doses. They have concluded this from studies on animals that were given contaminated water to drink, as well as from people exposed to TCE through their work or through contaminated drinking water.

They don’t yet understand how TCE causes cancer: Researchers studying the question say the process is pretty complicated, and the jury is still out on the exact mechanism.

Peter Preuss, director of the EPA’s National Center for Environmental Assessment, says that TCE breaks down into several different components, some of which are carcinogenic. “There are maybe three to five routes by which TCE might induce cancer,” he says.

But the cancer data are from animal and humans subjected to high doses of TCE. To understand what might happen at lower doses found in the environment, researchers have to extrapolate.

“There’s a fair amount of uncertainty,” Preuss says. And the kinds of new experiments that are needed to determine whether the levels found in Southern California water led to cancer are difficult to do. Preuss is leading an effort to determine what health effects the TCE might have had over the years by examining all the available, published data.

What about PCE?

Some of the best data on the health effects of these solvents come from Marines based at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina from November 1957 through February 1987. Those who lived in the base’s Tarawa Terrace family housing units drank water contaminated with PCE from a dry-cleaning operation near the water source.

Researchers with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry — a group within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concerned with toxic chemicals — estimate that in 1985 the PCE in groundwater was at a concentration of approximately 800-1500 parts per billion. That’s far above the 5 ppb limit the EPA considers safe.

Over time, PCE breaks down into TCE; the researchers estimated that levels of TCE, which is subject to the same 5-ppb limit as PCE, were as high as 100 ppb.

The Marines drank considerably less of the solvents than were present in the groundwater, however. The water coming out of the water treatment plant contained about 200 ppb of PCE and up to 15 ppb of TCE.

The Camp Lejeune study found that older mothers (35 and older) and mothers who had a history of miscarriages generally gave birth to lower-weight babies than unexposed women. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry is continuing to look at possible birth defects and childhood cancers linked to the exposures.

Should Southern Californians be drinking bottled water?

Researchers and the EPA say there’s no need, because even with the contamination, people in Southern California are drinking solvent-free water.

Not all water sources in the L.A. area are contaminated. Also, although not all of the groundwater in regions of concern in the L.A. area have been treated to contain less than the federal limit of 5 parts per billion, what comes out of your tap is not the same as what’s in the groundwater.

The treatment systems that clean up water before it reaches people’s faucets clear out the TCE, says EPA Superfund project manager David Stensby, who oversees water treatment in one of the Superfund sites, in Glendale.

The first treatment consists of blowing air through the water. Because TCE is volatile, it catches a ride on the air, and that removes about 98% of the TCE.

The water then flows through activated carbon filters, which removes the remaining solvent. Because the carbon filters can fill up just like carbon filters on home water filtration systems can, the water is checked at various points in the process to make sure there is no TCE.

“Our performance standard is zero, not at the end of the pipe, but before the last carbon filter,” Stensby says. He adds that the TCE-filled air also goes through carbon filters before it is released: “The TCE is captured one way or another.”

The groundwater being treated this way wasn’t being used before treatment. The EPA treatment systems were put in place when cities wanted to use the water from a contaminated source.

In parts of the L.A. area not covered by the Superfund effort, water is subject to the equally strict standards set out by the California Department of Public Health.

November 24, 2007 at 06:55:35 Toxics Tour Planned to Highlight Environmental Racism by Robert Bullard     Page 1 of 1 page(s) http://www.opednews.com

National Campaign to Spotlight the Deadly Mix of Toxic Racism and TCE Contamination on an African American Family

NASHVILLE, TN, November 23, 2007 – On Thursday, November 29, a coalition of national leaders, representing environmental justice, civil rights, scientists, women’s health, academia, faith-based and religious groups, legal, and elected officials, including congressional staffers, from around the country will meet at Nashville’s Fisk University and board a bus for Dickson, a small town located about 35 miles to the west.   

The national leaders will travel to Dickson and participate in the “Take Back Black Health Toxics Tour” and see for themselves in real time a slam-dunk, in-your-face case of environmental racism.  The tour is sponsored by the National Black Environmental Justice Network (NBEJN), Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University (EJRC), Race Relation Institute at Fisk University   (RRI), Deep South Center for Environmental Justice at Dillard University (DSCEJ), Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice (DWEJ), and  WE ACT for Environmental Justice, Inc.
(WEACT).  

The tour will highlight the devastating impact of toxic contamination on a black family.  Tour organizers hope to raise awareness and for national leaders to put pressure on Congress to make the elimination of environmental hazards in low-income and people of color communities a national priority issue in the upcoming elections.   Continue Reading »

Montco site found to be tainted by TCE

Former V.A. Saverese plant contains likely carcinogen, DEP says. Hearing scheduled on proposed cleanup.

By Kelly Martin | Special to The Morning Call

November 22, 2007

A former electroplating plant in Montgomery County is contaminated with a likely cancer-causing agent, the state Department of Environmental Protection has announced.Soil at the V.A. Saverese Plating Co. plant at 1400 Spring Valley Road, Upper Hanover Township, has been found to contain trichloroethylene, or TCE, the DEP said last week in a news release. The colorless liquid also was found in a nearby residential well.

The state has proposed cleaning up the site but will give the public an opportunity to comment on and ask questions about the project. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. next Thursday at the Upper Hanover Municipal Building, 1704 Pillsbury Road.

DEP officials will be available at 6:30 p.m. to answer questions about the cleanup. Continue Reading »

November 16, 2007 - 11:28AM

Water scare outrages Scottsdale residents

Ari Cohn, Tribune

Water from a south Scottsdale Superfund site laced with nearly double the maximum legal limit of a suspected cancer-causing chemical may have entered a drinking-water supply in Scottsdale during an eight-day period last month, federal officials revealed Thursday.Scottsdale: TCE scare limited to private supply

OUTRAGE: Robert Romano of Scottsdale demands to know Thursday why nobody immediately knew of a slightly elevated level of TCE, a toxic chemical that is being removed from contaminated sites around the city, at a meeting with public officials oversee

Bettina Hansen, For the Tribune

Representatives of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also said they have rejected Motorola’s request to remove air filters at the Scottsdale Central Groundwater Treatment Facility near 86th Street and Thomas Road, which treats contaminated groundwater from the North Indian Bend Wash Superfund site. Doing so would have put about 6 pounds of a solvent called trichloroethylene, or TCE, into the air each day in an area bordered by residential neighborhoods, according to Motorola representatives.“The EPA has made the decision that we will keep the filters on,” said Jamey Watt, EPA remedial project manager.

About 70 people turned out for a meeting Thursday to hear about the proposed removal of the air filters. Many were outraged at the announcement that water containing 9 parts per billion of TCE could have been introduced into the drinking water supply. The federal maximum for TCE in drinking water is 5 parts per billion, or 2.5 teaspoons in an Olympic size swimming pool, according to A. Jay Gandolfi, director of a University of Arizona research program on Superfund sites. Continue Reading »