The TCE Blog » News – Ohio

Residents launch Youtube documentary on Behr contamination site (OH)

Neil Fischbein — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:00:31 +0000

Residents, organized as a group called the Behr VOC Area Leaders (BVOCAL), have released the following documentary on YouTube called “This our Neighborhood”:

The documentary details the history of the TCE contamination from the Behr Dayton Thermal Plant in the the McCook Field neighborhood in Dayton, OH.

In today’s news, residents are asking EPA for new widespread testing of indoor air in the neighborhood to rule out risks of exposure by vapor intrusion. So far, EPA has not agreed to the testing. In what appears to be yet another dubious, knee-jerk, party-line denial from federal agencies, Stacey Coburn, the U.S. EPA’s project manager for the site, has stated that “she doesn’t believe anyone’s health is at risk from the plume” despite reports of nearby groundwater contamination levels exceeding 900ppb of TCE and previous confirmation that dangerous levels of TCE have already poisoned indoor air in certain homes.

Meantime, a lawsuit has been filed on behalf of the contaminated community who apparently disagree with EPA’s empty reassurances.

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Behr site proposed as Superfund site, Cancer incidence inquiry planned (OH)

Neil Fischbein — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 12:34:41 +0000

Recently, the Dayton Daily News (OH) reported the Behr Dayton Thermal Products Plant has been proposed to EPA’s National Priority List (NPL) for clean-up:

Groundwater contamination in the vicinity of the Behr Dayton Thermal Products Plant is severe enough to merit putting it on the National Priority List of the U.S. EPA’s Superfund program, federal officials said.

The list represents the highest level of urgency for cleanups in the nation.

If the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approves later this year, an effort to cleanup groundwater at the site would rank among five others in Montgomery County on the National Priority List.

There are 22 active Superfund sites in the county where work is being planned or is under way.

Priority sites are considered the worst in the nation in terms of hazard and are eligible for cleanup using Superfund Trust money. The Behr project is still in the investigational stages, which typically can take two years and cost millions, officials said.

So far, the contamination has led to the closure of McGuffey Elementary School, 1032 Webster St., and the installation of air evacuation systems in 100 homes affected by indoor air fumes from the groundwater, which is tainted with the degreaser trichloroethylene — TCE — and other organic chemicals.

It’s unknown when the school will reopen. A handful of homes that have dirt basements still have indoor air contamination slightly above strict exposure levels. In the Superfund program, those responsible for the contamination fund the cleanup.

According to documents obtained by the Dayton Daily News, federal investigators believe four industrial businesses could share responsibility: Gem City Chemicals Inc., Aramark Uniform Services, Chrysler, and Behr Dayton Thermal Products.

Aramark didn’t return a call for comment. Gem City declined comment.

In a follow-up article, the Daily News also reports that a survey of local cancer incidence is planned:

Public Health Dayton & Montgomery County is launching a cancer incidence survey among residents near the Behr Dayton Thermal Products plant, where groundwater pollution has prompted regulatory action to address indoor air quality.

Mark Case, director of environmental health for the agency, said Monday, March 10, that the survey could take up to a year and is being conducted with the Ohio Department of Health.

The survey will examine medical records and compare cancer levels in the neighborhood with overall cancer levels in the county, state and nation, he said. “By comparison, you get a sense whether something is out of line or not,” Case said.

The Ohio Cancer Incidence Surveillance System will be tapped for data, he noted. All diagnosed cancer cases in Ohio are supposed to be reported to the system. The area will include the census tract of the Behr plant and residential neighborhoods where 100 or so indoor air vapor abatement systems have been installed.

A similar survey was performed in 2005 in Kettering neighborhoods near the former Gentile Air Force Station. Residents of the Wiles Creek neighborhood there complained about pollution from the former Defense Electronics Supply Center. The survey found no abnormalities.

Case acknowledged that a cancer survey could have some limitations.

“We don’t know how long the vapors have been in people’s homes,” he said.

The exact chronology of Behr plant pollution is unclear. Former plant owner Chrysler has said it discovered TCE, or trichloroethylene, contamination in 1996, but it wasn’t until Ohio EPA tests in 2006 that hazards to homes were suspected.

Cancer can develop over decades and take the form of many different types of tumors, Case said. In its Ninth Report on Carcinogens, the federal National Toxicology Program determined that TCE is “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.” The International Agency for Research on Cancer has determined that TCE is “probably carcinogenic to humans,” according to the Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry.

In a related development, a community outreach survey sponsored by the Environmental Sustainability Research Group at the University of Dayton will examine health problems in the area. A public meeting on the survey could occur in April, a spokeswoman said.

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Vapor intrusion in Dayton from Behr Dayton Thermal Products plant (OH)

Neil Fischbein — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 07:30:10 +0000

Toxic TCE vapors are entering homes in Dayton. Though EPA is on the case, they’ve run into a few complications:

Efforts to make homes safe from contaminated groundwater fumes near the Behr Dayton Thermal Products plant, 1600 Webster St., have run into problems at as many as 10 homes.

And the effort to clean indoor air contamination at a nearby school is ongoing, authorities have said.

TCE fumes have migrated from the soil into the homes, businesses and schools, creating potentially hazardous vapors.

In homes that have dirt basement floors, those floors must be sealed for the air evacuation systems to work properly, said Mark Case, director of environmental health for Public Health Dayton & Montgomery County.

Levels of contamination in the problematic homes have reportedly dropped below 10 ppb. That’s still 25 times the Ohio Department of Health’s exposure limit of .4 ppb.

Read the full article in the Dayton Daily News.

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Bison Corp. clean-up plan, meeting May 17 in Canton (OH)

Neil Fischbein — Mon, 14 May 2007 04:51:45 +0000

The Repository (Canton, OH) reports:

The Ohio EPA has come up with a plan to clean up soil and groundwater contamination in the Allen Avenue and Kimball Road SE area caused by the former Bison Corp. site.

[...]

The chemicals tetrachloroethylene (PCE) and trichloroethylene (TCE) were previously found in elevated levels inside some of the homes near the former Bison site, according to the EPA.

[...]

[Vanessa] Steigerwald Dick [an environmental scientist at the EPA's Twinsburg office] said it could take five to 12 years to lower the groundwater contamination to acceptable levels.

–

The Ohio EPA is holding an informational session and public hearing on May 17 to discuss the agency’s plans to clean up contaminated soil at the former Bison Corp. site on Allen Avenue SE, along with the groundwater contamination it’s caused. The meeting is at 6 p.m. in the community room of the Edward L. “Peel” Coleman Community Center, 1400 Sherrick Road SE.

Copies of the agency’s preferred plan are available at the main branch of the Stark County District Library or at the EPA’s Northeast District office in Twinsburg by first calling (330) 963-1200.

The public comment period ends May 25.

Comments regarding the plan may be presented at the hearing or submitted in writing to Vanessa Steigerwald Dick, Ohio EPA Northeast District Office, 2110 E. Aurora Rd., Twinsburg, 44087. Comments also may be faxed to (330)487-0769 or e-mailed to:

vanessa.steigerwald@epa.state.oh.us

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Fumes send Canton firefighters to hospital, TCE suspected (OH)

Neil Fischbein — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 17:25:43 +0000

The Canton Repository (OH) reports:

Firefighters were going door-to-door in a northeast neighborhood late Thursday asking residents if they were experiencing any ill effects from a nearby chemical fire.

A furnace overheated at Canton Plating at 930 Ninth St. NE just before 7 p.m., said acting Chief Gary Kimble. He said 17 firefighters were taken to area hospitals after five or six reported symptoms while responding to the call.

“Some of our people started experiencing sore throats, metallic tastes in their mouths,” he said.

All of the firefighters who reported problems were outside the building and were not wearing oxygen masks.

Battalion Chief Gary Boone, who did not complain of symptoms, was among the firefighters taken to the hospital as a precaution. Aultman Hospital was examining eight firefighters while nine others were taken to Mercy Medical Center.

Kimble said four firefighters were being observed for up to six hours by poison control specialists for any additional symptoms. He said firefighters who were sent to a hospital went through a series of decontamination showers because their clothing was contaminated. Those treated also had their blood tested for the presence of chemicals.

Kimble said one chemical that was suspected of being present was trichloroethylene — a toxic solvent used in dry cleaning. But it was not known late Thursday all of the chemicals that may have been in the fumes.

Read the full story here.

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MIDDLETOWN: City drinking water polluted, says Ohio EPA (OH)

Neil Fischbein — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 04:36:25 +0000

The Middletown Journal (OH) reports:

Efforts to remove a toxic substance polluting the city’s only source of drinking water are entering the final stages after a nearly five-year hiatus.

The water underground surrounding the former AEP Flexo site, located at 1300 Hook Drive in Middletown, is polluted, according to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

The building’s current owners, however, are claiming a nearly six-year remediation process by the Ohio EPA was botched, and that levels of the volatile chemical, trichloroethylene — a carcinogen prevalently used in the dry cleaning and printing industry — are present again because of a lack of attention by the company charged with removing the substance.

Regardless, a recent decision by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office is putting the remediation of the site on the fast track, and efforts to remove the pollutant will be under way again in the next four to six weeks, according to the Ohio EPA.

This doesn’t sound good. Once we’ve had a chance to do a bit of research, we’ll be back with more…

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Opinion: Mansfield residents owed answers about polluted well water (OH)

Neil Fischbein — Sun, 09 Jul 2006 20:22:40 +0000

According to this opinion piece in the Mansfield News-Journal (OH):

The city’s response — offering to install charcoal filters — isn’t enough.

Don and Helen Perry, and perhaps others along Twin Lakes Drive in Madison Township, deserve several things related to their polluted water.

They deserve straight answers about what fouled their well water with trichloroethylene, a man-made substance often used to remove grease from metal in industrial applications.

They deserve to know how the trichloroethylene may have already affected their health.

They deserve to know what local governmental entities are going to do about the problem.

Most of all, they deserve all of these things quickly.

(more)

Trichloroethylene is a dangerous substance. Breathing high levels of it can cause headaches, dizziness, lung irritation, poor coordination and difficulty concentrating. Over long periods, breathing it can cause nerve, kidney and liver damage.

Drinking large amounts of water contaminated by trichloroethylene for long periods may cause those same health problems, plus harm the immune system and damage fetal development in pregnant women.

Don Perry, 46, said he and his wife were both healthy until he had a heart attack three years ago, and she has come down with a series of odd ailments, such as dry skin and severe headaches over the past several years.

Helen Perry said they wonder if their recent health troubles stem from drinking their well water laced with TCE from the city landfill. They’ve lived in the house for seven years, own a second house on Twin Lakes Drive, which they rent, and are concerned about the chemical problem affecting the value of their properties.

Officials seem to believe the source of the Perry’s well water pollution is a nearby closed landfill owned by the City of Mansfield. The city’s response has been to offer the Perrys — and every other homeowner on the street — a charcoal filter for their well water.

We don’t claim to be scientists or chemists. But the installation of a charcoal filter doesn’t seem nearly enough. Rather than try to clean the water as it comes out of the wells, we strongly suggest much more attention be paid (and fast) to stopping the chemical from reaching the well in the first place.

We urge the Environmental Protection Agency, the Mansfield/Ontario/Richland County Health Department and the City of Mansfield to act quickly in the case of the polluted water along Twin Lakes Drive.

The folks who live along that stretch of road deserve at least that much.

Originally published June 25, 2006

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Twin Lakes Drive wells tainted by TCE from landfills (OH)

Neil Fischbein — Sun, 09 Jul 2006 20:08:57 +0000

According to this archived report from approximately two weeks ago:

One family on Twin Lakes Drive cannot drink their well water because it is contaminated from chemicals reportedly leaching out of two closed landfills.

A second family there has not been told to stop using their well water, but suspects the chemicals may have caused a disabling illness suffered by a 42-year-old woman two years ago.

[...]

Trichloroethylene, a hazardous chemical used in industrial processes to clean grease off of metal parts, is the most dangerous contaminant found in the wells of two homes in the 1500 block of Twin Lakes Drive. One family was told they could not drink or even bathe in their well water.

Another family — Mark and Drema Havens and their three children — were told they can continue to use their well, but with caution. Mark Havens, who said he was advised chemical contamination levels of his water are close to the maximum allowed by the EPA, said his family will not use their well water until authorities determine the contamination has stopped.

Havens said his wife suffered a disabling illness two years ago and doctors at MedCentral/ Mansfield Hospital and The Ohio State University Medical Center were unable to determine the cause.

He said his family never suspected contaminated well water might have caused the illness, which includes blackouts for no apparent reason. Now, Havens said, his wife will be tested to determine if chemical contamination from well water may have affected her.

Twin Lakes Drive has eight houses and is about 75 yards from two dark-green, filthy, algae-filled ponds. A sign Friday afternoon advertised 10.7 acres for sale with two ponds, with the handwritten notation: “Cheap.”

Read the full story here.

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Filters for Mansfield water (OH)

Neil Fischbein — Sun, 09 Jul 2006 19:54:05 +0000

According to this news report:

The City of Mansfield and the Mansfield Ontario Richland County Health Department are making progress in their efforts to protect the homeowners on Twin Lakes Drive from the harmful effects of the industrial chemical Trichloroethylene known as TCE which was found in the residents well water.

Health Department Commissioner Stan Saalman met with the Madison Township Trustees Monday to update them on the city’s offer to purchase and install charcoal filters for the well pumps in the ten homes on Twin Lakes Drive.

Saalman says the new filters will help ensure water safety. Saalman says the Ohio EPA and Ohio Department of Health has been assisting the city and health department with this issue. Saalman says high levels of TCE were found in only one home and the residents were notified. Saalman says the chemical TCE was traced back to the city’s closed landfill near Twin Lakes Drive.

The new filters have cost the city an estimated $11,000 and so far four out of the ten residents have declined the city’s offer for the filters because they feel it does not guarantee complete protection from water contimation. Residents have also voiced their concerns about the water contamination affecting their property values. Exposure to high levels of TCE can cause headaches, nerve and kidney damage, complications to the immune system and skin rashes.

We notice this report is focused on the water supply and does not mention having ruled out vapor intrusion. Since groundwater and underground wells are contaminated near homes, vapor intrusion should also be considered.

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Widespread testing for PCE vapors in Troy (OH)

Neil Fischbein — Sun, 09 Jul 2006 18:58:51 +0000

Thanks to CPEO for this tip.
According to this Dayton Daily News (OH) report:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will begin testing for a likely carcinogen in the basements of homes, schools, churches and businesses in what could be the largest case in Ohio.

Randy Waterworth of the state EPA said Thursday the federal effort would start with three schools — Forest and Van Cleve elementaries and St. Patrick School — in about 20 square blocks east of downtown.

Steve Renninger of the federal EPA in Cincinnati said the testing should start in the next two weeks.

[...]

Officials have known for a number of years that soil in the area was contaminated with tetrachloroethelyne (PCE) in two plumes. One plume may have originated from a former dry-cleaning site near the southeast quadrant of the Public Square. The second appears to have originated near Spinnaker Coating and Hobart Cabinet.

PCE is a dry-cleaning solvent and a metal degreaser. Exposure to PCE over 30 or more years is thought to cause cancer in humans, based on animal testing.

Only in the past two or three years have scientists discovered that PCE often turns to vapor in the soil and can work its way into basements. City tests of 11 basements in April showed PCE vapor readings from twice to 189 times the recommended level.