[CPEO-MEF] Mtn. View to get new filtration system

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California
Mtn. View to get new filtration system
By Joshua L. Kwan
MERCURY NEWS
May. 14, 2003

Mountain View residents are breathing a little easier these days.

Six of the city's 13 towers that clean groundwater contaminated with TCE
-- by removing the toxin and spraying it into the air -- will soon be
replaced with new filtration systems that trap the industrial solvent.
It's unclear what the operators of the remaining seven towers will do.

``It's a victory for the people in the community,'' said Lenny Siegel, a
longtime Mountain View resident and environmental consultant. ``The
community said it doesn't make any sense to pull a contaminant out of
the water and then put it in the air.''

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has in the past year taken an
aggressive stance on TCE, or trichloroethylene, a once-ubiquitous
solvent used in cleaning microchips and machinery.

New studies about its toxicity have forced the agency to consider
adopting stricter guidelines on the dangers of TCE, which, with
long-term exposure, may increase the risk for health problems including
kidney and liver cancer. EPA toxicologists believe the substance is up
to 65 times as harmful as previously thought.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/5857199.htm

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