[CPEO-BIF] TCE vapor intrusion site in Kansas

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Residents near tainted site await a revised cleanup plan

By KIMBERLY SWEET
Kansas City Star
January 12, 2005

Residents who live near a site contaminated by a chemical recycling
facility await a revised plan to clean it up.

The Environmental Protection Agency is going back to the drawing board
to come up with a plan to remove contaminants that seeped into the
ground during the 40-year operation of Chemical Commodities Inc. The
business occupied land near the Burlington Northern railroad
right-of-way and had a permit that allowed it to generate and transport
hazardous waste. It closed in 1989.

In July, the EPA issued a plan detailing ways to clean up the
contamination. But during a public comment period that followed, the
state and residents said they were not satisfied with the level of
cleanup proposed, said Mary Peterson, a representative with the EPA.

...

The EPA continues to monitor vapor level in homes near the site.
Peterson told residents on Monday night that orders went out late last
year to install seven new ventilation systems in nearby homes. Testing
in November revealed that another three homes, on Cedar Street, had TCE
- or trichloroethylene - vapors above an acceptable level.

Peterson said the EPA has set the acceptable level of TCE vapors at a
conservative level, two micrograms per cubic meter of air. She said
levels would have to be thousands of times higher to result in adverse
health effects. Homes with ventilation systems have tested just above
the acceptable level, she said.

...

For the entire article, see the following. You may need to cut and paste
the following URL:
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascitystar/news/local/states/kansas/counties/johnson_county/cities_neighborhoods/olathe/10620486.htm

-- 


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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