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.

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.

(read more)

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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.

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.”

1. Assist impacted residents, communities and schools across New York State in addressing toxic chemical exposure from vapor intrusion.


2. 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.


3. 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.

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.

[...]

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.

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.

[...]

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.

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.

[...]

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.

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.

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.

[...]

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.

[...]

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.

This winter, state health and environmental officials will begin testing homes in Endicott and the Town of Union for signs of hazardous chemicals flowing in the ground around them.

The area includes more than 12 blocks of residential and commercial property, mostly between June Street on the north and Main Street on the south. It extends west to North Grippen Avenue into the Town of Union, and east to South Loder Avenue in Endicott, according to records from the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

Officials declined Thursday to say how many structures would be tested, or when, until residents in the area are notified. Letters were mailed from Albany on Wednesday, said Lori O'Connell a spokeswoman for the state DEC.

Officials from the DEC and state Department of Health have scheduled a public meeting to outline plans and answer questions. The meeting will be at 7 p.m. Jan. 23 in Union-Endicott High School.

Samples collected outside of homes last summer gave scientists a more complete picture of a subterranean plume of trichloroethylene (TCE) flowing under the neighborhood, according to information from the state DEC. An analysis of the samples documented concentrations of the solvent -- one widely used as a degreasing and cleaning agent -- in the ground water up to 900 parts per billion.

Amend the Safe Water Drinking Act to protect the health of susceptible populations, including pregnant women, infants, and children, by requiring a health advisory, drinking water standard, and reference concentration for trichloroethylene vapor intrusion, and for other purposes.

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Emerson Power Transmission met the first deadline outlined for the company in a recent letter from the Department of Environmental Conservation. The company, which is in the process of evaluating remediation for 25 possibly contaminated Areas of Concern on its South Aurora Street property, was asked to schedule a site visit by June 8.

Diane Carlton, a DEC spokesperson, said a conversation was held on June 6 that met the requirement.

“We have a meeting set up with them to discuss the pertinent issues in the letter,” she said.

Emerson has been actively working to remediate its South Hill site since trichloroethylene, or TCE, contamination was found still to be leaking from a fire-water reservoir about three years ago. The leak was first identified about 20 years ago.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation's local efforts regarding TCE and Emerson Power Transmission look to be entering into a long overdue era. Twenty years after a TCE leak was discovered and three years after the severity of the spill was upgraded, the DEC is setting immediate goals for Emerson to rectify the problem.

[...]

We are cautiously optimistic that the DEC is entering into a new era with faster, tougher and more stringent cleanup standards. That will benefit this area in the Emerson cleanup and beyond.

Nassau County has warned the 47 water districts it monitors that they need to immediately report any excessive level of contaminants in their water supply.

The warning was issued about a month after the Nassau County Health Department said it learned that the Village of Hempstead had failed to report that one of its wells had contamination from an industrial solvent at twice the allowable levels.

[...]

Water from the affected well had 11.8 parts per billion of trichloroethylene, or TCE, when it was tested on April 3, more than a week after a routine quarterly test showed a level of 10.1 parts per billion, twice the allowable limit of 5 parts per billion, according to a notice sent to village residents last week.

The 11.8 reading was "the highest ever seen in this well," the village said, but the source of the contamination still was unknown, according to the notice.

Neither state nor federal environmental agencies have been able to identify the source of the contamination, although village officials suspect it might be a federal superfund site at the Old Roosevelt Field in Garden City.

We are happy to see the DEC taking the area's environmental concerns seriously, especially in wake of the TCE legacy that we appear to have inherited though we didn't ask for it. TCE is a likely carcinogen, as The Journal's Jennie Daley has reported often in recent years, and health problems are possible for those exposed to it.

Emerson Power Transmission is facing new deadlines for its South Hill cleanup.

A letter from the Department of Environmental Conservation dated May 31 uses strong language to outline work it expects Emerson to complete. The letter includes five dates by which certain targets must be met, including completion of an investigation of the factory property by the end of August.

...

In the May 31 document, the following deadlines are written out:

* By Aug. 31 the Supplemental Remedial Investigation work plan should be submitted, including a schedule of investigative activities that outlines plans for all the associated field work.

* By Oct. 31 the Supplemental Remedial Investigation report on the findings should be filed and include the scope of the feasibility study. The feasibility study will outline possible remediation approaches.

* By Dec. 31 the feasibility study should be submitted.

The document also calls for a site visit to be arranged by June 8.

State lawmakers on Wednesday again passed a bill that would require landlords leasing polluted property to disclose the property's status to prospective tenants.

A similar measure was vetoed by Gov. George E. Pataki in August.

The bill's authors, Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, D-Endwell, and Sen. Thomas W. Libous, R-Binghamton, expect Gov. Eliot Spitzer to sign it.

The bill would inform renters about problems such as vapor intrusion -- a process in which underground pollution forms gases that seep into buildings. The problem affects hundreds of properties in Endicott and other Southern Tier communities polluted with trichloroethylene (TCE) and similar solvents.

In his rejection note, Pataki stated the requirement was "overly broad" because it required landlords to inform renters about sites even after they had been closed.

Libous said Wednesday that Pataki must have been acting on misinformation from an adviser about the nature of the bill, which would not require landlords to detail the scope and nature of pollution after the site was cleaned, although it would require them to note the status as a closed site.

"I'm convinced that the advice the governor got from his counsel was flawed," Libous said Wednesday.

The lawmakers introduced an identical bill early last year after a Press & Sun-Bulletin story revealed that some owners of buildings in a polluted area of Endicott had not notified tenants that a subterranean plume of TCE vapors had tainted indoor air.

Neighbors in Cortlandville found out Tuesday night that the government is going to help them stay safe from a dangerous chemical. Trichloroethene, or TCE, has been in the water table for years in Cortlandville. It was used as a degreaser at the old Smith Corona typewriter factory. The problem went unchecked for years before new regulations were enforced. TCE is associated with nerve, kidney, and liver damage.

TCE vapors have been rising into homes through the soil. At a public meeting Tuesday night, Department of Environmental Conservation showed new test results, showing the contaminated area [see map] hasn't moved much from where it has been for years.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is currently performing more soil tests on the ground near Lee Avenue [in Norwich, NY] where a chemical spill took place in the mid 1990s.

URS Engineering Corporation, sub-contracted by the DEC, has hired Nature’s Way Environmental to perform soil borings and install monitoring wells in the neighborhood near the railroad and east of a factory that was previously home to Gee Wiliker’s Kid’s Clothing. The building now houses The Label Gallery.

The company will be continuing previous testing to determine if there are heightened levels of trichlorethylene in the area. TCE has been used as a metal cleaning solvent, a paint stripper and an adhesive solvent.

“URS is currently performing soil borings and installing monitoring wells to determine the extent and direction of the contamination,” said Diane Carlton, a media relations representative at the DEC.

Newly obtained historical documents from the Tompkins County Department of Health show a mix of chemicals in the soil along Cherry Street where longtime industrial operations were recently linked to contamination on South Hill.

[...]

Documents published by the Journal on May 1 verified that wet steel shavings were brought from Morse Chain to Wallace Steel in the 1960s and '70s for processing. Emerson now owns the Morse Chain plant and is contending with a legacy of