[CPEO-BIF] Hinchey TCE letter to New Yorl Department of Health

[lsiegel@np.craigslist.org]

For Immediate Release
August 15, 2006
Office of Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-New York)


Hinchey Urges State Agency to Take the Lead on TCE Standards

Asks DOH to Incorporate Results of  New Research into Guidelines


Endicott, NY - Acknowledging that the Environmental Protection Agency's
(EPA) process for developing more stringent guidelines on
trichloroethylene (TCE) exposure is moving "at a glacial pace," U.S. Rep.
Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) today urged New York State Health Commissioner
Antonia C. Novello to move forward with state regulations to better
protect residents from the health hazards posed by the toxic chemical. In
a letter to Novello today, Hinchey called on the state Department of
Health (DOH) to incorporate the results of a recent National Academy of
Sciences (NAS) report as it promulgates new guidelines for TCE and to move
forward expeditiously with setting a more stringent standard.

"There is a growing body of evidence that exposure to TCE causes cancer
and other serious health consequences, at much lower levels of exposure
than current standards reflect," said Hinchey. "The NAS study that was
released last month underscored the need for tougher standards, and urged
the EPA to complete its risk assessment on TCE quickly. Unfortunately, the
federal process has already gone on for much too long, and residents of
Endicott, Ithaca, East Fishkill and other contaminated sites around the
state continue to be exposed to dangerously high levels of TCE. The state
of New York can and should act to establish a more protective action level
for TCE indoor air levels."

Back in 2001, EPA published a draft Health Risk Assessment, which
determined TCE to be 5 to 65 times more toxic than previously thought. 
Because of the study's vast implications for remediation efforts underway,
its findings were heavily scrutinized by other federal agencies which
called for additional analysis of the draft document and a review of other
data collected on TCE.    While EPA is now in the process of developing
stricter standards for TCE exposure, that process is expected to take at
least another two years. In the study it released in July, NAS reported
that, "the evidence on carcinogenic risk and other health hazards from
exposure to TCE has strengthened since 2001," and urged that the EPA move
quickly to issue its new risk assessment. Many scientists have interpreted
the NAS study as a endorsement of the EPA's 2001 study.

In his letter to Novelli, Hinchey called for the DOH to follow NAS's lead:
"It is indeed very likely that the findings of the NAS report will move
EPA to establish a more protective action level for TCE in indoor air than
the current average of 1 mcg/m³. However -- and unfortunately for the
countless number of people exposed to TCE -- actions on this matter by EPA
may very well continue at a glacial pace. In the meantime ... it is urgent
that the state take action independent of the federal government to
protect our people. I hope that you will agree that it is essential that
your agency makes changes commensurate with the danger TCE poses and
significantly decrease the accepted level to which people in New York are
being exposed to this toxic chemical."

###
The full text of Hinchey's letter follows.

August 15, 2006

The Honorable Antonia C. Novello, M.D.
Commissioner
New York State Department of Health
Corning Tower
Empire State Plaza
Albany, New York 12237

Dear Dr. Novello:

I am writing once again to urge your agency to act expeditiously in
establishing a new guideline for airborne trichloroethylene (TCE) that
appropriately reflects the threat this toxic chemical poses to public
health.  As your own website documents, TCE has been detected at
extraordinarily high levels in homes in Endicott, New York, ranging from
0.18 to 140 mcg/m3.  And, compounding that tragedy, there are many
communities throughout the state facing similar situations.

I appreciate the thoughtful reply I received from your agency earlier this
year which detailed DOH?s current approach to measuring the threat posed
to public health by volatilized TCE.  While the Indoor Air Matrix is a
useful tool in producing thresholds for action, it is also true that such
usefulness is only as good as the legitimacy of the numbers that actions
are based upon.  To this effect, I wish to bring to your attention a
recent development at the federal level that should be taken into account
by your agency, particularly as DOH finalizes its Guidance for Evaluating
Soil Vapor Intrusion in the State of New York, and weighs evidence
concerning whether a full epidemiological study is warranted to determine
the extent to which residents of Endicott and elsewhere have been
unknowingly poisoned by TCE.

Last month the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) issued a report which
made recommendations to EPA regarding TCE and the draft risk assessment
EPA did in 2001.  Among other things, this report is noteworthy due to its
finding that ?the evidence on carcinogenic risk and other health hazards
from exposure to TCE has strengthened since 2001?.  The NAS report urges
EPA to complete its risk assessment on TCE quickly and to do so with
currently available data so that risk management decisions are made
expeditiously.  In doing so, the report suggests that EPA make
methodological and technical changes to their 2001 document.  Many
scientists have interpreted this as a strong endorsement of the 2001 draft
risk assessment.

According to experts my office has contacted, it is indeed very likely
that the findings of the NAS report will move EPA to establish a more
protective action level for  TCE in indoor air than the current average of
1 mcg/m3.  However -- and unfortunately for the countless number of people
exposed to TCE -- actions on this matter by EPA may very well continue at
a glacial pace.

In the meantime, based upon our responsibility to the citizens of our
state ? especially the vast population that continues to be exposed to TCE
-- and in consideration of the powerful information about TCE that has
recently come to light, it is urgent that the state take action
independent of the federal government to protect our people.  I hope you
will agree that it is essential that your agency makes changes
commensurate with the danger TCE poses and significantly decrease the
accepted level to which people in New York are being exposed to this toxic
chemical.

I thank you for your consideration of this fact-based information and
gratefully anticipate your appropriate, life saving response.

Best regards.

Sincerely,

Maurice D. Hinchey



For the original release and letter, go to
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/ny22_hinchey/morenews/081506tceletter.htm
(You may need to copy and paste the URL.)

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