[CPEO-MEF] Navy to retest Moffett Homes

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California
MOUNTAIN VIEW VOICE
Navy to retest Moffett Homes
New study to assess health risks
By Julie O'Shea
July 11, 2003

Nearly eight months after toxic gas was found inside a Moffett Field
housing complex, the Navy said it will team up with the Army to assess
health risks faced by military families exposed to a cancer-causing
chemical.

Officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and
NASA/Ames sharply criticized the Navy early this year for saying that
residents of contaminated housing were safe; the Navy based the
assertion on a study that calculated health risks based on a small
portion of the gas found inside.

But military officials said last month that they plan to conduct
additional air tests at these sites, and perform a risk assessment based
on these results.

The Orion Park and Wescoat housing areas sit atop an underground plume
of trichloroethene (TCE), a solvent leaked into ground water by the Navy
and semiconductor companies.

Although elevated levels of the carcinogen -- up to 250 times what EPA
says is safe -- were found inside homes last year, the Navy claimed that
only a small portion of the gas came from underground. And, Navy
officials said, since they were only concerned with the risk of
chemicals moving from the ground into homes, they used a controversial
computer program to figure out how much of the gas came from underground

The program predicted indoor TCE levels far lower than what is actually
inside, and the risk assessment was based on these lower concentrations,
rather than the high TCE levels known to be in homes.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.mv-voice.com/morgue/2003/2003_07_11.mhous.html

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