[CPEO-MEF] Contamination under military housing at Moffett Field

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

>From the Mountain View (California) VOICE
Publication Date: Friday, March 29, 2002 

Are the Navy and EPA neglecting health risks to military families?

At Moffett housing area, feds' cleanup plan relies on controversial
methods to assess public safety 

By Justin Scheck and Bill D'Agostino 

When two-year-old Sabrina Russell plays in the sandbox at Orion Park,
she gets skin rashes. Her doctor says it's eczema, but her mother,
Sylvia Russell, is concerned that toxics under the playground are to
blame. 

"How do you get eczema in the summer?" asked Sylvia, whose husband,
Sergeant First Class Eric Russell, is a computer programmer for the
Army. 

Since moving into Orion Park - one of Moffett Field's contaminated
housing sites - in June, the Russells have been living just above a
plume of contaminants, the dangers of which are the center of a debate
between environmental advocates and the federal government. 

With the amount of money that the Army gives the family for housing, the
Russells cannot afford to move off the base, and remain concerned for
their health. 

At Orion Park, environmental advocates fear that trichloroethylene (TCE)
_ a possible carcinogen that can cause liver damage and lupus _ found
six feet beneath the ground poses a health risk to residents who come
into contact with the dirt. 

But the greater controversy in the housing area stems from the claim by
the Navy - which is investigating the pollution - that residents are not
at risk from chemicals entering their homes. 

That judgment was made using a computer program's prediction that,
theoretically, the homes were safe. But since that announcement, the
computer model has been derided as inaccurate by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's top-ranking internal watchdog, along with scientists
and state public health agencies. 

...

for the entire story, see
http://www.mv-voice.com/thisweek/2002_03_29.orion.html

see also
http://www.mv-voice.com/thisweek/2002_03_29.nasaside.html
http://www.mv-voice.com/thisweek/2002_03_29.sourceside.html
http://www.mv-voice.com/thisweek/2002_03_29.0329editorial.html 

-- 


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