[CPEO-MEF] TCE Found in Mountain View (CA) Air

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

TCE Found in City Air 

EPA says no immediate danger, but further study needed 

By Julie O'Shea 
Mountain View Voice
August 15, 2003 

After nearly a year of reevaluating the dangers of toxic waste in
Mountain View's ground water, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) said this month that it has found minute levels of a
cancer-causing solvent in city air. 

The information is the result of preliminary tests conducted this
spring. While tests at four of nine locations showed no trace of
trichloroethene (TCE) -- an industrial chemical leaked into the ground
by semiconductor companies from the 1960s through '80s -- an elementary
school, a Moffett Field playground, and various other areas revealed low
levels of the chemical. 

EPA officials say there is nothing to worry about for now; the minute
levels of TCE found in the air at Slater Elementary and Moffett Field's
Wescoat playground "show that there is no immediate or short-term health
concern," said EPA project manager Alana Lee in a letter to city
officials dated July 31. But the presence of TCE -- along with trace
amounts of other toxins, including the dry cleaning chemical PCE -- is
enough to spur EPA into conducting further tests. 

Lee said the agency doesn't know where the airborne toxins are coming
from, and whether they are always present in the air; the second wave of
air testing will aim to address some of these questions, and is slated
to start in September. 

The battery of tests is the first comprehensive assessment of TCE in
Mountain View's air; the chemical's presence in ground water has been
the subject of federal study and cleanup for decades. 

...

For the entire story, see
http://www.mv-voice.com/thisweek/2003_08_15.airtests.html
http://www.mv-voice.com/thisweek/2003_08_15.analysis.html
http://www.mv-voice.com/thisweek/2003_08_15.airsam.html
http://www.mv-voice.com/thisweek/2003_08_15.risk.html
http://www.mv-voice.com/thisweek/2003_08_15.tresults.html

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