As reported in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle:
The Rochester Board of Education has scheduled a special session to question state health and environmental officials about a factory-turned-schoolhouse whose owner has asked that it be declared a brownfield.
Board President Malik Evans stressed that the purpose of the meeting, slated for July 14 at 6 p.m. at the board’s downtown headquarters, is to learn more about the toxins at the site and not to take action on the Rochester School District’s future use of the building.
The district last year signed a 15-year lease on the building at 690 St. Paul St. [map], a former Bausch & Lomb factory, where it temporarily housed School 33 this school year and plans to have School 14 and the new Dr. Walter Cooper Academy share space for the next few years.
Evans said the board was unaware of any contamination concerns when it authorized the lease, noting that the site hosted a charter school between 2000 and 2005.
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Word of the meeting comes two weeks after the board rejected by a vote of 5-to-2 a motion that sought to pull students out of the space immediately and stop the two schools from moving in this fall.
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Environmental tests of the site conducted last summer revealed traces of trichloroethene [a/k/a Trichloroethylene] in the air, soil and groundwater.
Earlier this month, a small group of citizens and legislators gathered at the New York home of Debra Hall (Founder of Hopewell Junction Citizens for Clean Water & Clean Air and founding member/co-chair of the New York State Vapor Intrusion Alliance) to announce and unveil legislation requiring the EPA to better protect the public from TCE-contaminated water and air. The new legislation is intended to be the House of Representatives’ companion to Senator Clinton et. al.’s TCE Reduction Act.
Here’s a video of the press conference announcing the new legislation:
This press release comes from U.S. Rep. John Hall’s (D-NY) website:
Standing with Hopewell Junction families who have suffered from cancer and other health problems due to groundwater contamination and vapor intrusion by the carcinogenic chemical trichloroethylene (TCE), U.S. Rep. John Hall (D-NY19) today unveiled legislation to help communities deal with TCE contamination. The TCE Reduction Act, which Hall is introducing with U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY22), would require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set stricter regulations to protect the public from exposure to TCE.
“Growing scientific evidence shows the danger TCE pollution poses to people,” said Congressman Hall. “Yet the EPA continues to drag its feet instead of setting a new standard that would help the residents of Hopewell Junction and similar communities throughout the country.”
TCE and other contaminants have plagued Hopewell Junction residents as the result of Hopewell Precision’s disposal of painting and degreasing wastes directly on the ground, resulting in a 1.5 mile long groundwater contamination plume. Chemicals have been detected in local drinking water wells and many homes have experienced significant problems caused by vapor intrusion. The site was listed on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund National Priority List, a list of the most severely polluted sites in the country, in 2005. Yet residents are still suffering from significant TCE contamination.
“TCE is a pervasive, toxic chemical that cannot be allowed to continue to pollute our communities,” said Congressman Hall. “Study has shown that it is a likely carcinogen, can cause nerve damage, lead to developmental difficulties in children, and pose a significant threat to public health. We expect our government at all levels to provide security. When the fire alarm rings, we expect the fireman to show up and put the blaze out. EPA is no exception. But what did EPA do when the alarm rang about TCE spill here and throughout the rest of the country? It recommended more study.”
In 2001, a draft EPA Risk Assessment found TCE to be as much as 40 times more carcinogenic than previously thought, but instead of setting a more protective standard for TCE in drinking water, the Bush Administration called for more study. The National Research Council (NRC) was directed to conduct an in depth study of the health studies involving TCE. The final NRC report, issued in 2006, found that “the evidence on carcinogenic risk and other health hazards from exposure to trichloroethylene has strengthened since 2001.” The report went on to say, “The committee recommends that federal agencies finalize their risk assessment with currently available data so that risk management decisions can be made expeditiously.”
“No action has been taken by the EPA to update the water standard,” stated Debra Hall of Hopewell Junction Citizens for Clean Water. “There is no federal standard to deal with vapor intrusion even though this is a very dangerous environmental issue. I applaud Congressman Hall for taking action to force stricter regulations related to TCE. People living here in Hopewell Junction and the entire nation will benefit greatly when this bill becomes law. Stricter standards will allow more homes to be mitigated. It is obvious that legislation is needed to force protection against cancer and other health issues that are caused by TCE.”
Hopewell Junction resident Sharon Whalen testified that her father developed prostate cancer after living in her home. The house was also dubbed “the sick house” because everyone living there became almost constantly ill. Whalen’s home is impacted by vapor intrusion only and at the highest amount of the entire superfund site.
The TCE Reduction Act addresses both groundwater contamination and vapor intrusion caused by TCE and would require the EPA to:
Issue a revised health advisory for TCE within 6 months of enactment.
Issue revised draft health standards for TCE in drinking water within 12 months of enactment, and final drinking water standards within 18 months.
Issue a health advisory standard for TCE vapor intrusion within 12 months of enactment.
Establish an integrated risk information system reference concentration for TCE vapor which is protective within 18 months of enactment.
Ensure that all standards set under the bill fully protect susceptible populations (including pregnant women, infants, and children) from the adverse health affects of TCE.
Advocates and community members gathered Tuesday in front of State Senator Frank Padavan’s Bellerose office to protest his lax legislation concerning environmentally contaminated school sites and to announce a leafleting campaign to educate constituents in Padavan’s district about the issue.
The meeting was hosted by Dave Palmer, a lawyer for New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, which represents community groups dealing with environmentally contaminated school sites. School sites leased by the City do not require the same type of community, political and environmental review processes as schools owned by the City. This loophole allows for schools to be located on contaminated sites posing health threats to children, according to the organization.
“All of that we think places children at risk,” Palmer said.
“Children are most vulnerable to the effects of toxic chemicals.”
In June, the State Assembly passed a bill sponsored by Cathy Nolan (D-Ridgewood) that NYLPI believed strongly addressed the issues surrounding leased school sites. Palmer said community groups also had an assurance from Padavan that he would sponsor an equally strong bill in the Senate, though they say the bill that was past last session did not contain strong enough provisions for community notice, City Council review and environmental review.
Padavan said in a June statement, “Through discussions with
the City and environmental advocates, we have crafted legislation that addresses concerns relative to school leasing in the City. The legislation that we have developed ensures that any proposed leased site for a school undergoes a two-phased environmental review process with adequate time for public review and comment on any site remediation plan impacting students, parents and community.”
Advocacy organizations and community groups plan to begin distributing leaflets Saturday throughout Padavan’s district, which encompasses parts of northeastern Queens, in an effort to get his constituents to pressure him to draft legislation that more closely reflects their concerns about leased schools.
At the meeting Tuesday, Katie Acton, whose daughter attended PS 65 in Ozone Park from 1999 to 2002 spoke about the toxins beneath the school that she believes led her daughter to develop asthma. Acton belongs to PS 65 Parents and Neighborhood Against TCE, which now has a lawsuit against the City. The school is located is a former airplane parts factory.
“Leaving the school, her health has improved and so have her grades,” Acton said. “It is my understanding that the Department of Education knew of the contamination before the families.”
It has also been reported that the site of the Information Technology High School in Long Island City, a former factory, is contaminated.
Though the meetings announced in this article have since passed (the article was originally dated March 10), this Rochester Democrat & Chronicle article highlights 3 separate site clean-ups that are under way:
Costly taxpayer-financed plans to address toxic-chemical contamination in residential pockets of northeast Rochester and central Brighton will be detailed at separate public meetings this week.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation has scheduled a meeting for Tuesday evening to discuss a $1 million proposal to remove tainted soil and take other steps to address contamination at a now-closed business at Fernwood and Portland avenues in northeast Rochester.
The DEC first learned in 2000 that Preferred Electric Motors had spilled solvents and other potentially harmful materials in the course of its work refurbishing electric motors. Trichloroethene (TCE), tetrachloroethene (PCE) and other solvents are contaminating groundwater near the former business, prompting the state to install ventilation systems in two homes to guard against the build-up of toxic vapors.
The proposed cleanup would remove about 450 cubic yards of contaminated soil and include steps to speed the degradation of solvents in the groundwater. The floor of the building, which is contaminated with cancer-causing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), would be cleaned and sealed.
The building was purchased three years ago by a Greece carpet company that stores product there, according to the DEC.
On Thursday, another group of state officials will convene a meeting in Brighton to discuss a proposed $3.7 million plan to address a complicated PCE contamination problem underneath a section of Brighton just southeast of the Twelve Corners.
The solvent contamination there first came to light during investigation of a 2003 petroleum spill at a service station at the corner of Brooklawn Drive and Monroe Avenue. Officials first pointed the finger at Carriage Cleaners, at that same intersection, as the source of the PCE, a common dry-cleaning solvent.
Then last year, DEC said they had found high levels of PCE in soil and groundwater near a former Speedy’s Cleaners just across Monroe Avenue from the other two businesses. It also was identified as a likely source of the solvents. Vapor ventilation systems had been installed in at least 11 structures to address petroleum vapors. PCE vapors prompted installation of systems in three residential and one commercial building.
As part of its long-term cleanup plan, the environmental agency now proposes to install systems that would extract both air and groundwater from below the surface for treatment to remove any solvents. About 720 cubic yards of tainted soil also would be excavated.
Both central Brighton and northeast Rochester are served by public water, meaning no one should be drinking the contaminated groundwater. But in recent years, officials have recognized that solvents can evaporate underground and rise through the soil — and can, in some cases, the vapors can accumulate inside homes or businesses above.
Both TCE and PCE may cause cancer or other serious health problems in people exposed to high levels. The affects of low-level exposure are less clear — but the DEC and the state Department of Health have given special attention in recent years to possible intrusion of solvent vapors.
Both cleanup projects would be paid for with money from New York’s Superfund, which finances work at hazardous waste disposal sites when the responsible parties do not step in. The DEC’s written cleanup proposals, provided by the agency Friday, indicated that companies judged responsible for the Rochester and Brighton contamination have declined to pay for the work. The DEC may pursue legal action against them to recover its costs, the proposals said.
Residents of the neighborhood affected by the petroleum and PCE spills in Brighton filed a civil suit in 2004 against the companies that owned the service station and the two dry cleaners, as well as the town of Brighton.
The plaintiff’s lawyer, Alan Knauf, could not be reached for comment late Friday. But a January letter from Knauf in the case file in U.S. District Court said the plaintiffs had reached a settlement agreement with all the defendants except for Speedy’s.
The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle (NY) recently reported this news:
Barring a flood of public comments, state environmental officials could decide early next month on a cleanup option for a site in northeast Rochester where soil and groundwater are contaminated with toxic solvents.
And judging by attendance at a public meeting on the site Tuesday evening, a flood of further comments is unlikely. “It’s sad in the neighborhood — there’s just no interest,” said Sue Buehner, one of two or three citizens who attended the meeting in the library at School 36.
The session focused on problems at 42 Fernwood Ave., a small commercial building where Preferred Electric Motors reconditioned motors from the early 1950s until the business closed eight years ago. In the process, the company spilled or dumped toxic solvents, including trichloroethene, or TCE.
After an anonymous tip about leaking chemical drums in 2000, state Department of Environmental Conservation officials found solvents in soil and groundwater.
They also discovered very high levels of TCE vapors infiltrating a neighboring rental home, and health officials ordered that it remain unoccupied until a system was installed to pull the potentially harmful vapors from the soil.
The DEC paid for removal of soil and an underground storage tank in 2001. In more recent years, state officials returned to the area to test a dozen structures for vapors, and installed a ventilation system in one home.
Now the agency has proposed a permanent cleanup that would involve removal of more tainted soil, capping that area with asphalt, cleaning the building’s floor and placing material underground that would promote degradation of the remaining solvents.
The work would cost $1.1 million. “It blows my mind that they’re going to spend $1 million to do what they’re going to do,” said Buehner, whose home abuts Preferred Electric’s former property.
During the session, she asked DEC and state Department of Health officials several questions about how much contact they’ve had with residents since the contamination was found.
“We tried to inform the surrounding community as best we could,” responded Melissa Menetti, a public health specialist.
After the meeting, Buehner said she was pleased that so many experts — about 10 — were present to answer questions. She and her husband John, who also attended, said they were assured Tuesday that their home would be tested for TCE vapors next year.
A formal cleanup decision likely will be made in April, said Valerie Woodward, the DEC project manager. Work would start in one to two years.
Still catching up on old news, the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle (NY) reported this news in late February:
Even as state environmental officials are publicizing cleanup plans for two Rochester-area toxic dump sites, another local contamination site has been placed on the to-do list.
The new site, off Brighton-Henrietta Town Line Road, is a commercial property where the once-ubiquitous industrial solvent trichloroethene, or TCE, was used — and apparently spilled. Groundwater near the building at 235 Metro Park in Brighton contains relatively high concentrations of TCE, as well as other solvents.
A fact sheet from the state Department of Environmental Conservation said the solvents apparently originated with Fischbach & Moore Electric, a large commercial contractor that occupied the building for years.
The DEC notified nearby property owners last week that it has added the site to its registry of hazardous waste disposal sites. It is listed a Class 2 site, meaning it poses a significant threat to the environment or public health, and must be cleaned up.
Note: We can’t locate the DEC fact sheet. When we do, we’ll provide link here. Meantime, you can read the full Democrat & Chronicle article here.
In late February, the Evening Sun (Norwich, NY) reported:
The Chenango County Industrial Development Agency agreed last week to postpone taking steps that would alter a 1982 tax agreement held with the New York Susquehanna & Western Railroad.
Consulting attorney James Downey said if the agency wanted to change or terminate the payment-in-lieu of taxes agreement this year, it would have to do so by March 1. “Do it today or don’t do it,” he said during the meeting Feb. 20.
The IDA’s economic development activities have been thwarted ever since the 2006 flood shut down rail transportation through most of the county. And, because of its inactive status, officials have been revisiting the agreement which exempts the railroad from taxation.
Downey has advised only a partial termination of the agreement, however. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation funds are currently being used to clean up an old, trichloroethene spill on a portion of the railroad bed in the City of Norwich’s Fourth Ward. Without the IDA’s ownership of the right-of-way, it is prohibited from tapping into remediation funds.
In late February, the Ithaca Journal (NY) reported:
Groundwater testing at Ithaca Gun has identified the presence of TCE above the standard established by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Samples were taken from three groundwater monitoring wells on the property in November 2007, said Mary Jane Peachey, a DEC engineer. Two of the three samples registered trichloroethylene, or TCE, readings above the state’s groundwater standard of 5 parts per billion: one location between the factory and the smokestack was 152 ppb; one location near the smokestack was 98 ppb.
“The groundwater in this particular case is being monitored at a location 50 feet into rock. So exposure is not something occurring here on this site. That’s a good thing,” Peachey said. “What this tells us is that there is a need to do a complete investigation up on the site itself.”
We posted this news weeks ago and wanted to tell you more:
According to the press release announcing its formation, the New York State Vapor Intrusion Alliance (NYVIA) was recently formed by citizens representing Ithaca, Victor, Endicott, Hopewell Junction, Plainview, Hillcrest, Middleport and Ft. Edward. Each of these communities has been forced to deal with ongoing TCE pollution and the impact of vapor intrusion. Founding members of the Alliance include (links have been provided below where available):
Assist impacted residents, communities and schools across New York State in addressing toxic chemical exposure from vapor intrusion.
Explore the impact of vapor intrusion on health and property, identify commonalities, and present our findings as a means to educate the public, media, and policy-makers.
Collaborate with local and state officials to adopt protective remediation standards, policies, procedures and technologies to prevent or mitigate vapor intrusion that are based on 21st century knowledge and science.
In support of this mission, the Alliance has already inserted itself into state politics and is lobbying for legislation designed to better protect the public from migrating toxins and vapor intrusion.
A document from the NYS Department of Health in 2003 listed the range of potential criteria for long term exposure of trichloroethylene (TCE) in indoor air from 0.2 to 4 micrograms per cubic meter (mcg/m3)of air and then sets 5 mcg/m3 as the indoor air guideline. In 2005, the NYS DOH adopted a matrix for evaluating residential indoor air that lists values for mitigation of TCE vapors ranging from 0.25 to 5.0 mcg/m3 depending on subslab concentrations. As a response to public outcry about the matrix, the NYS DOH convened an expert panel in August of 2005 to comment on the use of this matrix. NYS DOH rejected the panel’s recommendation that the standard be set between 0.1 and 1 mcg/m3 of indoor air. In 2006, NYS Senator Thomas Libous wrote to the NYS DOH requesting that the NYS standard be set between 0.016 and 0.02 mcg/m3 of air. The NYS DOH has been unresponsive to requests to lower NYS indoor air standards.
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The community action groups in this Alliance have found that the NYS Indoor Air guidelines in the matrix are not applied uniformly in pollution cases. The screening levels appear to be different in different communities and the action levels vary significantly. In Hillcrest (Town of Fenton) NY, mitigation of TCE vapors was done down to 0.14 mcg/m3 whereas in Endicott NY a standard of 5 mcg/m3 was applied.
The NewYork-Vapor Intrusion Alliance strongly supports the introduction of legislation to adopt trichloroethylene indoor air standards to be set at the detection level using the most accurate measurement devices available. NY-VIA also strongly supports that the standards be applied uniformly across New York State.
The New York State Vapor Intrusion Alliance is working towards important goals. Their voice and influence have become necessary to fill a critical gap left by legislators and regulators who, unduly influenced by corporate and political pressures, have been unable or unwilling to adequately protect the public from migrating toxins and vapor intrusion.
The TCE Blog fully supports NYVIA’s mission and its efforts. Further, we believe other states can and should learn from their example. Every state should establish a similar Vapor Intrusion Alliance.
If anybody from Connecticut wants to help us launch the CTVIA, please contact us.
Over the weekend, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (NY) reported extremely high levels of TCE in soil and groundwater in Gates, NY:
After a four-year investigation, the DEC found high levels of trichloroethene (TCE) in soil and groundwater at Buell Automatics, 381 Buell Road. A toxic volatile organic compound used as a solvent in dry cleaning and removal of grease, trichloroethene in large amounts can cause health symptoms similar to those of alcohol intoxication, beginning with headache, dizziness, cardiac arrhythmias and liver and kidney problems.
The tainted groundwater flowed 200 feet southwest, toward the Comfort Inn, 395 Buell Road, the report said. DEC officials performed a vapor intrusion analysis near and around the hotel. The site is not near a residential area.
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DEC officials conducted investigations between March 2002 and September 2006 to evaluate geologic and groundwater conditions on- and off-site. The investigation included sampling and chemical soil analysis from more than 60 soil borings, 19 groundwater wells and indoor air from buildings at three adjacent properties.
The DEC testing showed TCE levels for the soil at 820 parts per million and groundwater at 15 parts per million, both much higher than standard numbers.
A story posted on the TimesLedger website describes NY State Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan’s appeal to the state to better inform local communities about potentially toxic neighborhood sites. Her concern appears to stem from recent discovery of contamination found to be migrating from under the Swingline Stapler building in Queens.
It reminds us that we have yet to post the original news of the migration, which broke in December:
State Department of Environmental Conservation officials are conducting tests at eight to 12 buildings within a one-block radius of the former stapler factory, which closed in 1999 and housed the Museum of Modern Art while its Manhattan location was being renovated from 2002 to 2004.
The groundwater and soil beneath the building is tainted with the common industrial pollutant and carcinogen trichloroethylene, known as TCE, according to DEC regional citizen-participation specialist Arturo Garcia-Costas.
In October, the DEC found that the degreasing solvent – which has also been linked to nerve damage and birth defects – may have spread, so a new round of tests began immediately.
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ACCO, the company that operated the Swingline factory from 1952 to 1997, entered into the state’s voluntary cleanup program in October 2000 after an unlined pit used to dump chemical waste was discovered during federal closing procedures.
In 2004 the DEC investigated the actual footprint of the factory, but not until this year did it complete tests in the areas around Swingline.
Read the full story from December here. We’ll try to keep you posted as we learn more.
A second wave of legal claims seeking damages from IBM Corp. related to pollution in Endicott has been filed in state Supreme Court in Binghamton, bringing the total to more than 240 plaintiffs, with more on the way.
The 82-page document representing 151 property owners and residents was filed electronically late Friday afternoon by Philip Johnson, an attorney with the Vestal law firm of Levene Gouldin & Thompson. Johnson is part of a team of seven law firms representing more than 1,000 clients in the massive toxic tort case against IBM seeking more than $100 million in damages for a range of hardships related to the pollution. They include cancer and other illnesses, property devaluation, loss of business, medical expenses and related monitoring, and hassles of dealing with the pollution.
The first wave of claims, representing 94 plaintiffs, was filed early last month.
State lawmakers will again introduce legislation requiring landlords to notify tenants who live in polluted buildings, after similar measures were vetoed by two administrations in 2006 and 2007, the bill’s sponsor said.
The latest incarnation of the bill, sponsored by Assemblywoman Donna A. Lupardo, D-Endwell, is being drafted with help from the office of Gov. Eliot Spitzer, Lupardo said Friday. Spitzer supports the intention of the bill but vetoed it last August, saying it was not comprehensive enough and in some instances too vague.
Lupardo said she is “optimistic” the bill will become law because of Spitzer’s involvement, but noted the governor’s draft still has to pass muster with her and its sponsor in the Senate, Thomas W. Libous, R-Binghamton.
“Ultimately, I think this will make it an even better bill,” Lupardo said.
Analysis of the samples suggests no more work is necessary in “Area Seven,” with approximate borders of Country Club Road to the south, Twist Run Road to the north, Nanticoke Avenue to the west and Robinson Hill Road to the east.
Lab technicians collected samples on public rights of way near parcels that raised suspicion because of unknown dumping or the possibility of dumping in years past. They included cemetery property owned by St. Mary’s Orthodox Catholic Church at the corner of Taft Avenue and Newell Road, and a dump on Twist Run Road identified as a “sanitary refuse disposal area” in a DEC summary of the sites.
The DEC has divided the Town of Union and the village into seven areas to map out pollution from trichloroethylene (TCE), an industrial solvent once used extensively in circuit board assembly and other industries.
The state will continue work in evaluating five of the areas, including a neighborhood around Badger Avenue and June Street where high concentrations of TCE have been found underground.
Tests showed no evidence of pollution requiring further study in “Area Three” — west of Oak Hill Avenue, south of Pine Street, north of Franklin Street and east of Nanticoke Avenue, according to the report.
East Fishkill – The New York Vapor Intrusion Alliance has been formed with members across the state. It was spearheaded by Debra Hall, an East Fishkill resident who has been fighting for clean water and clean air after her house was found to be contaminated.
The group’s primary purpose is public awareness of the problems surrounding vapor intrusion, said Hall.
“We basically want people to recognize vapor intrusion, know that it’s a real health problem, and there needs to be legislation that is going to protect people for it,” she said. “Now that we know that it’s here, who knows how long people have been breathing in vapors with TCE and PCE and all these other chemicals that volatize?”
Hall and members of the group will be meeting with state lawmakers and DEC officials next week to push for legislation that would require landlord notification when dealing with environmental investigations and testing, and a private well testing law.
Broome County, with more than 700 properties affected in Endicott, the Town of Union, Vestal, Binghamton and Hillcrest, is among the largest stakeholders in the TCE regulatory process, said Bruce Oldfield, a Hillcrest resident and Broome Community College professor. He is co-chairing the group, called the New York State Vapor Intrusion Alliance, representing citizens groups from nine areas throughout the state. Debra Hall of Hopewell Junction in Dutchess County, is a co-chair.
TCE has also been detected in parts of the South Hill section of Ithaca.
Coalition members plan to meet with lawmakers in Albany in January, Oldfield said. They are pushing for simple and uniform rules that prohibit trichloroethylene (TCE) in indoor air.
“There seems to be a wide discrepancy in how they (state health and environmental departments) approach these sites,” Oldfield said. “That is troublesome.”
Emerson found levels of trichloroethylene, or TCE, at levels ranging from 1.2 to 29.5 micrograms per cubic meter in ambient air outside homes downhill and north of its factory on South Hill.
Morse Chain, the site’s previous owners, used degreasing solvents containing volatile organic compounds like TCE until the late ’70s.
Of 12 locations tested, eight showed unusually high results, said Karen Cahill, regional engineer with the DEC. Of the 12, four were from areas in the Phase 5 investigation area, near the police station, and eight were near homes with mitigation systems installed.
John Criscitello lives at 401 S. Cayuga St. in one of those homes. He has a mitigation system in his house to pull TCE out from under his basement sub-slab and send it into the outside air, where it is supposed to dissipate.
The ambient air reading outside his home was 25 micrograms per cubic meter. The indoor air measurement that the state Department of Health considers unsafe is 5 micrograms per cubic meter. Emerson mitigates homes with indoor air readings at 0.8.
Levels this high in outside air are virtually unheard of.
According to this report in the Ithaca Journal (NY), DEC’s immediate next step is to retest “to see if those numbers are real or not.”
Ambient air samples in some South Hill structures show higher levels of TCE than have ever been found since Emerson began testing ambient air in 2004, according to a letter from Emerson Power Transmission to some South Hill homeowners.
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The state Departments of Health and Environmental Conservation will host a public availability session and information meeting Thursday in Ithaca Town Hall, 215 N. Tioga St. The availability session, 2 to 4 p.m., allows individuals to ask questions one on one. The public meeting will be from 6:30 to 9 p.m.
“As we explained to plaintiffs’ lawyers before they filed this case, these suits have no basis in science or law, and IBM will defend itself vigorously,” company spokesman Michael Maloney said in a statement.
State environmental officials are seeking permission from property owners to begin testing in and under about 80 homes south of June Street in February and March, as the next phase of a TCE probe begins in an area encompassing about 400 properties.
Lori O’Connell, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Conservation, outlined more details this week about the scope of the investigation, which will include an industrial site on the north end of Badger Avenue and its affect on the surrounding neighborhood.
The area extends from West Endicott into the Town of Union.
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Officials have scheduled a public meeting at 7 p.m. Jan. 23 at Union-Endicott High School to outline plans and answer questions about the investigation around Badger Avenue.