TCE migrates from former plutonium facility in Park Township (PA)
The Pittsburgh Tribune Review reports migrating TCE contamination in Parks Township, Armstrong County, PA:
The state Department of Environmental Protection confirmed that trichloroethylene (TCE) continues to contaminate groundwater and migrate from the site of a former plutonium plant along Route 66 to the Kiski River in Parks.
Although the plutonium plant was razed, with the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission granting unrestricted release of the site in August 2004, the groundwater is still contaminated with TCE. The plant site is adjacent to a nuclear dump.
A toxic liquid commonly used as a solvent, TCE was first detected by the owners of the site of the former plutonium plant, Babcock & Wilcox, in 1991.
"The site was decommissioned, and B&W removed contaminated soils, but it did not remove TCE from the groundwater," said Helen Humphreys, DEP spokeswoman. The company was then required to monitor the groundwater for two years until the end of 2004. Since then, there has been no monitoring, Humphreys said.
"The contamination entering the Kiski does not pose a risk to people or the environment," she said. "We need to work with the company for a complete cleanup of the site." There is no cleanup deadline in place.