Re: [CPEO-BIF] Vapor Intrusion Policies Fall Short

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

It's my understanding that the people who work in buildings with vapor
intrusion face a long-term risk. But it is also my understanding that
OSHA's standards don't recognize the toxicity of TCE in air. In fact, I
believe they're much less stringent that EPA's old standards.

Vapor intrusion is a potential problem at a subset of Brownfields sites.
It occurs where there are shallow groundwater contamination plumes or
significant soil contamination with volatile organic compounds, but it
the evidence thus far is that air contamination still may be negligible
at many of these sites.

Lenny

Emery Graham wrote:
> 
> Lenny,
> 
> What are the broader implications for employee health and safety at
> these toxic air sites? Does OSHA HAZWOPER apply? Do the organizations on
> these sites need, or should they have, Health and Safety Programs?
> 
> The issue you raise in this note has been a consistent and poorly
> acknowledged problem in every densely populated brownfield community.
> Issue for issue, the problems are the same.
> 
> Is it a technical challenge or political challenge that faces us here?
> 
> Emery Graham
> City of Wilmington, Delaware
> 

-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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