[CPEO-MEF] VOCs: "EPA finds high levels of toxic vapors in NASA [Moffett Field, CA] building"

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

[The 50 ug/m3 (micrograms per cubic meter) concentration of TCE found  
in Moffett Field's Building 10 requires mitigation under EPA's old  
(before the September 2011 IRIS assessment for TCE) occupational  
action level, but this building might also become a test case for EPA  
Region 9's proposed Removal Action Level, capping allowable short- 
term TCE concentrations in commercial buildings at 15 ug/m3. That is,  
the property owner (NASA) and responsible party (U.S. Navy) may have  
to demonstrate that concentrations in the building, after mitigation,  
never exceed 15 ug/m3). Interestingly, these are the same TCE levels  
(50 ug/m3) that led to the closure of PS51x elementary school in the  
Bronx, NY. - LS]



EPA finds high levels of toxic vapors in NASA building
Chemical TCE is exposing workers to dangerous fumes

by Daniel DeBolt
Mountain View Voice (CA)
May 31, 2012

A building occupied by facilities workers at NASA Ames Research  
Center has 10 times the limit of toxic vapors coming from an  
underground plume, according to recent tests by the Environmental  
Protection Agency.

"Short-term exposure at that level, particularly for pregnant women,  
would be an issue," said Lenny Siegel, director of the Center for  
Public Environmental Oversight. "Birth defects are caused by short- 
term exposure."

The reading was taken over a large toxic plume flowing under  
northeastern Mountain View and Moffett Field. Fairchild, Intel and  
the United States Navy were among those who used the industrial  
solvent Trichloroethylene and either dumped it on the ground or  
leaked it from storage tanks over the years


...

For the entire article, see
http://mv-voice.com/news/show_story.php?id=5674

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
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

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