[CPEO-BIF] Vapor Intrusion: The New Frontier of Toxic Cleanup

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

[Please pardon the duplicate posting.]

Vapor Intrusion: The New Frontier of Toxic Cleanup

By Lenny Siegel
BNA's Daily Environment Report
September 20, 2004

The characterization and cleanup of vapor intrusion at sites
contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is the new frontier
of environmental response. Most vapor intrusion responses have focused
on the direct vertical transport of contamination into overlying homes,
but increasingly it is being recognized as a neighborhood phenomenon,
both indoor and outdoor. The most common VOC, trichloroethylene (TCE),
has been identified in at least 852 of the nearly 1,500 sites on the
superfund National Priorities List and is found at thousands of other
sites across the country. No one yet knows how many of the sites that
have TCE intrusion pose a risk to public health.

The vapor intrusion problem also exists at sites where soil has been
excavated and groundwater treatment remedies are in place. At these
sites, regulatory agencies and responsible parties are re-opening their
programs to consider this previously ignored exposure pathway.
Furthermore, the presence of VOCs in groundwater or soil also presents a
challenge for development or redevelopment. There are no clear rules of
thumb for determining when or how sensitive uses, such as day-care
centers, homes, and schools, should be located above sites contaminated
by carbon tetrachloride, perchloroethylene, TCE, and related compounds.

...

for the entire article, see
http://ehscenter.bna.com/pic2/ehs.nsf/id/BNAP-654FYC?OpenDocument


-- 


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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