[CPEO-BIF] Chrysler TCE Contamination in Dayton, Ohio

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

[As the auto companies descend into bankruptcy, the people whose health 
and homes are impacted by their legacy of contamination are concerned 
that there will no resources available for protection and cleanup. - LS]





    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    BVOCAL
    July 9, 2009


    DAYTON RESIDENTS USE YOUTUBE TO HELP WITH A HUGE ENVIRONMENTAL
    PROBLEM AT A SUPERFUND SITE IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD.  A GROUP CALLED
    BVOCAL HAS MADE A SHORT VIDEO, "THIS IS OUR NEIGHBORHOOD!" TO TELL
    THEIR STORY WORLDWIDE AND TO ENCOURAGE STRONGER ACTION FROM THE U.S.
    ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY.

    THEY WANT THEIR HOMES RETESTED FOR TRICHLOROETHYLENE, A DANGEROUS
    INDUSTRIAL CHEMICAL.





    Here is the link to the video on youtube



    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8tXRg3-bEg



    Three years ago, people who live in the McCook Field neighborhood of
    Dayton Ohio learned that the former Chrysler Airtemp plant at Leo
    and Webster Streets, now owned by Behr, had leaked trichloroethylene
    (TCE), into the ground and that toxic vapor from the chemical was
    coming up into their houses at unsafe levels.  Over 400 homes have
    been tested for vapors and elevated TCE levels were found in more
    than half. Contamination levels as much as 650 times the official
    "action level" have been found. One school has been closed due to
    contamination. The USEPA says this is one of the worst contamination
    sites in the country and has made it a Superfund site.

    Mitigation systems, which are a patch but not a fix for the problem,
    have been installed in many homes but the TCE plume continues to
    move through the groundwater causing levels under the homes to
    constantly change.  For that reason, all of the homes need to be
    periodically retested in order to insure that they are safe,
    something the USEPA has not yet agreed to do.

    BVOCAL spokesperson Jerry Bowling says, "We want to tell our story
    and to encourage the USEPA to retest all of our homes on an ongoing
    basis until the problem is resolved."

    The Ohio Department of Health has found that TCE exposure is linked
    to kidney cancer, liver cancer, non Hodgkin's lymphoma, and several
    other types of cancer including Hodgkin's lymphoma and cervical
    cancer.  A cancer incidence study of the McCook Field area completed
    by the Ohio Department of Health in August 2008 found that for all
    cancer types, the neighborhood had a significantly higher than
    expected number of cancer cases and that for 4 types of cancer
    associated with TCE exposure; liver, non Hodgkin's lymphoma,
    Hodgkin's lymphoma, and cervical cancer, there were more observed
    cases in the area than would have been expected.

    TCE exposure can also cause other health effects such as headaches,
    lung irritation, dizziness, coordination and concentration
    difficulties, skin rashes, nerve and immune system damage and damage
    to fetal development. Many of these problems have been reported by
    residents of the neighborhood.

    Chrysler discovered the TCE contamination on its property in 1989 or
    1990.  Almost 20 years later, the site is still not being cleaned up
    despite the severity of the contamination and the number of people
    affected.

    Now that Chrysler has filed bankruptcy, it appears that it may try
    to completely walk away from it's responsibilities to this
    neighborhood.  The BVOCAL group is working to make sure that doesn't
    happen and that the USEPA does everything it can to protect this
    community.

    BVOCAL can be reached at, bo68chev@att.net
    522 Herbert St., Dayton, OH 45404 .

    # # #




--


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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