[CPEO-BIF] Ft. Edward (NY) vapor intrusion study

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

State to test for toxic vapors 
Homes near GE plant in Fort Edward to be checked for possible pollutants 

By MATT PACENZA
Albany Times Union (NY)
February 26, 2005 


FORT EDWARD -- Tracey LaFountaine got unsettling news from a neighbor
last week. State officials want to test their basements for toxic vapors.

That alarmed the 36-year-old mother of five, who runs a day care
business at home. The planned air tests certainly put a hold on her plan
to convert her basement into a playroom.

For decades, industrial chemicals from the nearby General Electric
capacitor plant leaked into groundwater. Only recently have
environmental and health officials become concerned that those
pollutants, primarily TCE, may migrate from the water through soil and
into basements.

TCE stands for trichloroethylene, a colorless liquid that GE used as a
degreasing agent. It's a suspected carcinogen, according to the Agency
for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

State officials assure homeowners there is no imminent health threat.
They say they're testing just to be cautious.

But many, like LaFountaine, aren't convinced. "They're saying it's not a
huge problem," she said. "But yet they're spending thousands and
thousands to check it out. I'm very concerned."

...

For the entire article, see
http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=336786

-- 


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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