[CPEO-BIF] Endicott area (NY) air sampling

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Air sampling to expand in Endicott area
Superfund money expected to pay for pollution testing

By Tom Wilber
Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin (NY)
December 11, 2005

Scientists will continue to tap Superfund money to sample air from about
130 properties in Endicott and the Town of Union this winter as they
continue a search for toxic vapors.

So far, the state has spent about $2.2 million testing air in Endicott
area homes for solvents such as trichloroethylene (TCE) and
perchloroethylene (PCE). That does not include the more than $35 million
dollars IBM has spent cleaning pollution affecting about 480 properties
south of its former microelectronics plant on North Street.

"As long as we have the money and it's a priority, we will use it," said
Mary Jane Peachey, a regional scientist with the state Department of
Environmental Conservation. "This is a priority."

Advocates say the state Department of Health should make it more of a
priority by lowering its guideline for acceptable exposure to the
pollution in homes. In October 2003, the state raised its guideline to 5
micrograms of TCE per cubic meter of air. When the problem was first
discovered earlier that year, the guideline was at or near the level of
detection, which is about 0.22 micrograms of the chemical per cubic
meter of air.

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051211/NEWS01/512110350/1006

-- 


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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