Contaminated Nation
Every day families and communities are affected by toxic substances that have been leaked, spilled, buried and dumped across the United States.
Updated: 21 min 6 sec ago
PA Drinking Water An Issue In Marcellus Shale Debate
July 23, 2010 - Drinking water is one of the biggest concerns for people in the debate over Marcellus Shale drilling.
Bill Eakin, of Avella, says his once-pristine well water is now contaminated and that it has killed his garden and made him and his wife Shirley ill.
He blames the Atlas Energy Company which has been drilling for natural gas close by for the past two years.
"Oh, I know because me and my wife have been itchy all the time," he said. "Before when we drank it we had diarrhea and had rashes everything," he said.
Bill is not alone. More than 1,200 people crammed into a federal EPA hearing. Many are accusing the drilling company of contaminating ground water and the waterways.
Opponents want a moratorium on the mining of the natural gas-rich Marcellus Shale which lies about a mile below the ground.
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Bill Eakin, of Avella, says his once-pristine well water is now contaminated and that it has killed his garden and made him and his wife Shirley ill.
He blames the Atlas Energy Company which has been drilling for natural gas close by for the past two years.
"Oh, I know because me and my wife have been itchy all the time," he said. "Before when we drank it we had diarrhea and had rashes everything," he said.
Bill is not alone. More than 1,200 people crammed into a federal EPA hearing. Many are accusing the drilling company of contaminating ground water and the waterways.
Opponents want a moratorium on the mining of the natural gas-rich Marcellus Shale which lies about a mile below the ground.
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Restoration Program Cleans Up Abandoned LA Wells
July 24, 2010 - Over the past fiscal year, the state's Oilfield Site Restoration Program has closed and erased from sight 177 orphaned wells and related production equipment in Caddo, Union, DeSoto, St. Martin, Assumption and Terrebonne parishes.
But there's an untold number of other potentially hazardous sites around the state waiting to be cleaned up after oil and gas exploration and production companies walked away, leaving behind wells, production facilities, rusty pipes and tank batteries.
Kjel Brothen, director of the program under the state Department of Natural Resources' Office of Conservation, said the state identifies and prioritizes as many sites as it can each year with the $4 million that's paid into a fund by companies producing oil and gas in the state.
An orphan well or site is one that the company responsible for it cannot be located or legally determined. If the responsible party is identified, the state seeks reimbursement for all costs.
Many of the sites are away from residential areas, Brothen said, but some are in neighborhoods.
"Typically, homeowners are very happy to get equipment out of their backyards," he said.
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But there's an untold number of other potentially hazardous sites around the state waiting to be cleaned up after oil and gas exploration and production companies walked away, leaving behind wells, production facilities, rusty pipes and tank batteries.
Kjel Brothen, director of the program under the state Department of Natural Resources' Office of Conservation, said the state identifies and prioritizes as many sites as it can each year with the $4 million that's paid into a fund by companies producing oil and gas in the state.
An orphan well or site is one that the company responsible for it cannot be located or legally determined. If the responsible party is identified, the state seeks reimbursement for all costs.
Many of the sites are away from residential areas, Brothen said, but some are in neighborhoods.
"Typically, homeowners are very happy to get equipment out of their backyards," he said.
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A Cleanup That Remains Stalled
July 23, 2010 - For over 30 years, Edgewater has worked hard to replace its image as a home of polluted factory sites with one of luxury homes, upscale shops and a beautiful walkway along the Hudson River.
But beneath certain areas like the City Place Promenade on River Road, lie contaminates and pollutants that have never been completely removed.
Although the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been monitoring the area known as the Quanta Resources Superfund property since 1986, it has not removed contaminants from the area or required the owners to do so since it classified the area as a Superfund site in 2002.
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But beneath certain areas like the City Place Promenade on River Road, lie contaminates and pollutants that have never been completely removed.
Although the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been monitoring the area known as the Quanta Resources Superfund property since 1986, it has not removed contaminants from the area or required the owners to do so since it classified the area as a Superfund site in 2002.
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Tests in PA Confirm Contamination Near Old Fuel Leak
July 22, 2010 - Residents near a Susquehanna Twp. gas station where a 17-year-old fuel leak was never cleaned up weren't surprised to hear that levels of benzene and other contaminants appear to exceed acceptable levels in some spots around their homes.
But until the extent of the contamination is known, homeowners won't have a good idea what the cleanup will involve.
More than two dozen residents of Redwood and Alden streets, behind the gas station at Progress Avenue and Union Deposit Road, gathered at Progress Fire Hall Wednesday evening to learn the preliminary results of geologist Gary Calvert's probe into leaks from the station.
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But until the extent of the contamination is known, homeowners won't have a good idea what the cleanup will involve.
More than two dozen residents of Redwood and Alden streets, behind the gas station at Progress Avenue and Union Deposit Road, gathered at Progress Fire Hall Wednesday evening to learn the preliminary results of geologist Gary Calvert's probe into leaks from the station.
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PCB cleanup begins in Natick, MA's Pegan Cove
July 20, 2010 - A large ring of yellow buoys floats on the surface of Pegan Cove, marking the area where contractors have started removing sediment contaminated with PCBs, left by an accident at the Soldier Systems Center 30 years ago.
The PCBs were found in the section of Lake Cochituate just to the east of Natick Labs. They came from a transformer explosion in 1980 and got into the lake through a storm drain, said Jim Connolly, restoration program manager for Natick Labs.
The cleanup was triggered when authorities found unsafe levels of PCBs in fish caught in Lake Cochituate. Kaltofen, an environmental engineer, said the fish are his biggest concern.
"The fish from Lake Cochituate are really nasty," Kaltofen said. "I have been to toxic sites all over the country and very few have anywhere near the level of PCBs as the ones at Lake Cochituate."
While there are signs warning people not to eat the fish, and mailings have gone out to nearby homeowners, some still catch and eat fish from the lake.
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The PCBs were found in the section of Lake Cochituate just to the east of Natick Labs. They came from a transformer explosion in 1980 and got into the lake through a storm drain, said Jim Connolly, restoration program manager for Natick Labs.
The cleanup was triggered when authorities found unsafe levels of PCBs in fish caught in Lake Cochituate. Kaltofen, an environmental engineer, said the fish are his biggest concern.
"The fish from Lake Cochituate are really nasty," Kaltofen said. "I have been to toxic sites all over the country and very few have anywhere near the level of PCBs as the ones at Lake Cochituate."
While there are signs warning people not to eat the fish, and mailings have gone out to nearby homeowners, some still catch and eat fish from the lake.
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DDT Contamination Lingers At CA's Inner Richmond Harbor
July 14, 2010 - Talk to those who frequently fish in San Francisco Bay and you'll find many who keep and cook their catch. But -- as area fisherman Anthony Florez noted -- it's best to limit the amount you consume.
"You can eat them. But you can't eat too much of it, you know?" said Florez.
Warning signs posted by the state make the danger clear. Mercury and other toxins have been found in the fish. And there is a spot in the bay where no fish are fit to eat. It is a large part of the Inner Richmond Harbor. The main contaminant is DDT, the once widely used pesticide.
"We want the communities to be aware of existing do not eat advisories in the Richmond harbor area and follow these advisories very closely," said Sharon Lim, Environmental Protection Agency project manager for the United Heckathorn Superfund Site.
United Heckathorn was a major pesticide manufacturing plant. Decades ago, it sandwiched between 4th Street in Richmond and the Lauritzen canal.
The plant is long gone, having been demolished after the company went bankrupt in the 1960's. But the company left a legacy of toxins that continue to threaten people and the environment.
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"You can eat them. But you can't eat too much of it, you know?" said Florez.
Warning signs posted by the state make the danger clear. Mercury and other toxins have been found in the fish. And there is a spot in the bay where no fish are fit to eat. It is a large part of the Inner Richmond Harbor. The main contaminant is DDT, the once widely used pesticide.
"We want the communities to be aware of existing do not eat advisories in the Richmond harbor area and follow these advisories very closely," said Sharon Lim, Environmental Protection Agency project manager for the United Heckathorn Superfund Site.
United Heckathorn was a major pesticide manufacturing plant. Decades ago, it sandwiched between 4th Street in Richmond and the Lauritzen canal.
The plant is long gone, having been demolished after the company went bankrupt in the 1960's. But the company left a legacy of toxins that continue to threaten people and the environment.
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Seal Beach, CA, Saying Enough is Enough, Wants BP/ARCO to Remove Contaminated Soil
July 15, 2010 - After three decades of trying to end contamination from a gasoline station leak in Seal Beach, the City Council has voted to direct BP/ARCO to dig out the tainted soil.
The company was asked 25 years ago to do something about the contamination at PCH and Fifth Street that was linked to fumes that seeped into neighboring homes last winter, causing three temporary evacuations.
The council vote was unanimous.
Tracy Wood has the scoop on the Voice of OC.
"We want to solve the problem and move on," City Manager David Carmany reportedly said of the contamination problem during Monday night's council meeting. "We don't want to be doing this for the next 20 years. Enough."
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The company was asked 25 years ago to do something about the contamination at PCH and Fifth Street that was linked to fumes that seeped into neighboring homes last winter, causing three temporary evacuations.
The council vote was unanimous.
Tracy Wood has the scoop on the Voice of OC.
"We want to solve the problem and move on," City Manager David Carmany reportedly said of the contamination problem during Monday night's council meeting. "We don't want to be doing this for the next 20 years. Enough."
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Toxic-Waste Sites Haunt Silicon Valley CA
July 15, 2010 - Silicon Valley is home to one of the nation's heaviest concentrations of toxic-waste sites. The costly effects of the region's tainted industrial past can be seen in this city's eastern outskirts.
Here a residential neighborhood sits 2,000 feet from a toxic-waste site once used as a chemicals-processing plant run by Romic Environmental Technologies Corp. Romic processed hazardous materials like solvents, fuels and inks from local technology companies and other manufacturers for nearly 50 years. The facility was closed in 2007 after a series of environmental and safety violations. Romic paid fines in two cases, but admitted to no wrongdoing.
East Palo Alto officials are now trying to turn the area into a business park dubbed the Ravenswood Business District, which they hope will alleviate the city's 20% unemployment rate. But development has been delayed partly by an expensive cleanup of Romic and other contaminated properties, a process that is projected to take several years.
In addition, some residents have complained of respiratory problems that they allege might be related to the accidental release of a chemical cloud at the Romic facility in 2006.
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Here a residential neighborhood sits 2,000 feet from a toxic-waste site once used as a chemicals-processing plant run by Romic Environmental Technologies Corp. Romic processed hazardous materials like solvents, fuels and inks from local technology companies and other manufacturers for nearly 50 years. The facility was closed in 2007 after a series of environmental and safety violations. Romic paid fines in two cases, but admitted to no wrongdoing.
East Palo Alto officials are now trying to turn the area into a business park dubbed the Ravenswood Business District, which they hope will alleviate the city's 20% unemployment rate. But development has been delayed partly by an expensive cleanup of Romic and other contaminated properties, a process that is projected to take several years.
In addition, some residents have complained of respiratory problems that they allege might be related to the accidental release of a chemical cloud at the Romic facility in 2006.
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Off Target: CTS Letter Prompts EPA Inquiry Into Neighboring NC Businesses
July 13, 2010 - Chapel Hill Church Road resident David Bradley, who’s seen his own well contaminated, plans to fight the EPA, at the request of CTS, investigating his small home insulation business as a source of contamination.
Ironically, Bradley is one of the very people directly affected by the ongoing contamination (see "Fail-safe?" July 11, 2007, Xpress). His home was placed on city water last August after TCE, a suspected carcinogen, was found in his family’s well at a concentration of 840 parts per billion — more than 168 times the maximum the law allows in drinking water. (See "The Green Scene," Sept. 9, 2009, Xpress.)
Bradley says he’s baffled and angry at the request, noting that he doesn’t manufacture the insulation he installs, and he stores it in Fletcher, far away from the site the EPA is asking about. "I don’t keep insulation here — I just work out of my house," Bradley explains. "I don’t make the insulation, I get it from distributors: I just install it. I don’t know what they’re trying to say. I just figure since they found so much of that stuff in my water, they’re trying to blame me for screwing the water up."
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Ironically, Bradley is one of the very people directly affected by the ongoing contamination (see "Fail-safe?" July 11, 2007, Xpress). His home was placed on city water last August after TCE, a suspected carcinogen, was found in his family’s well at a concentration of 840 parts per billion — more than 168 times the maximum the law allows in drinking water. (See "The Green Scene," Sept. 9, 2009, Xpress.)
Bradley says he’s baffled and angry at the request, noting that he doesn’t manufacture the insulation he installs, and he stores it in Fletcher, far away from the site the EPA is asking about. "I don’t keep insulation here — I just work out of my house," Bradley explains. "I don’t make the insulation, I get it from distributors: I just install it. I don’t know what they’re trying to say. I just figure since they found so much of that stuff in my water, they’re trying to blame me for screwing the water up."
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Residents, Environmentalists Take on MD Steel Mill
July 10, 2010 - Thirteen years after a federal court ordered steelmakers in Sparrows Point to clean up the toxic brew surrounding the peninsula just east of Baltimore City, those who live with the air and water pollution say little has been done.
They suffer with gritty fallout on their boats, fumes that sting their throats, and fears that swimming, crabbing or fishing near their homes will make them sick.
State and federal officials have cited the steel mill owners 22 times since the court decree, and fined it nearly $700,000. Now a handful of frustrated residents have joined the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper to sue Severstal North America, the latest company to run the century-old steel mill, and its previous owner, ArcelorMittal USA.
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They suffer with gritty fallout on their boats, fumes that sting their throats, and fears that swimming, crabbing or fishing near their homes will make them sick.
State and federal officials have cited the steel mill owners 22 times since the court decree, and fined it nearly $700,000. Now a handful of frustrated residents have joined the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper to sue Severstal North America, the latest company to run the century-old steel mill, and its previous owner, ArcelorMittal USA.
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Maryland Event Explores Possible Detrick Link to Cancers
July 11, 2010 - About 150 people gathered Saturday evening to learn more about cancer cases in Frederick and the possibility that a 1992 contamination problem at Fort Detrick's Area B is connected to the illnesses.
Randy White, a Florida pastor, started the Kristen Renee Foundation after one of his daughters died at age 30 from a brain tumor. His other daughter developed stomach tumors, and his ex-wife is fighting renal cell carcinoma. The three women lived on Lake Coventry Drive from 1995 to 2005, just tenths of a mile from the edge of Area B.
White said the goal of his foundation was originally to help those with cancer, but when doctors told him that his family's cancer cases were not genetic, he started a quest to find the cause of their cancers and fix the problem before more people got sick.
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Randy White, a Florida pastor, started the Kristen Renee Foundation after one of his daughters died at age 30 from a brain tumor. His other daughter developed stomach tumors, and his ex-wife is fighting renal cell carcinoma. The three women lived on Lake Coventry Drive from 1995 to 2005, just tenths of a mile from the edge of Area B.
White said the goal of his foundation was originally to help those with cancer, but when doctors told him that his family's cancer cases were not genetic, he started a quest to find the cause of their cancers and fix the problem before more people got sick.
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IN Family Blames Toxic Site for Illness
July 11, 2010 - Kathryn Mbwelera stands in her front yard, despite the blazing heat, pointing across the street to where the ground is filled with poison.
"Nobody’s going to make me believe I’m not at risk and that I haven’t been at risk," Mbwelera says. “The health risks these chemicals pose – we’ve experienced them all."
The chemicals are chlorinated solvents that are in the soil and groundwater beneath the former Wayne Metal Protection plant, a defunct metal plating company at 1511 Wabash Ave. on the east side of the city near Memorial Park.
The contamination has spread northeast from the shuttered plant, toward Memorial Park Middle School; Mbwelera’s house is immediately north of the plant.
The chemicals move easily in groundwater, and their vapors can move upward through soil into homes and buildings.
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"Nobody’s going to make me believe I’m not at risk and that I haven’t been at risk," Mbwelera says. “The health risks these chemicals pose – we’ve experienced them all."
The chemicals are chlorinated solvents that are in the soil and groundwater beneath the former Wayne Metal Protection plant, a defunct metal plating company at 1511 Wabash Ave. on the east side of the city near Memorial Park.
The contamination has spread northeast from the shuttered plant, toward Memorial Park Middle School; Mbwelera’s house is immediately north of the plant.
The chemicals move easily in groundwater, and their vapors can move upward through soil into homes and buildings.
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CT Residents with Carcinogen in Water Will Get Help from Borough
July 7, 2010 - The borough will start to help residents of an east side neighborhood whose properties have tested positive for a chemical shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals.
At least three residential properties on David Street, a small road with seven homes off Gail Drive, which intersects with Union City Road near the Naugatuck Industrial Park, have tested positive for dangerously high levels of a colorless fluid called tetrachlorethylene, or PCE. It is used to degrease metal parts, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified it as a Group 2 carcinogen, meaning it probably causes cancer in humans.
The Board of Mayor and Burgesses on Tuesday took the first step in putting those residents on the public water supply. The board voted 6-0 to waive a bid process for installing the well. The vote means the borough will pay the Connecticut Water Co. $35,000 to install a public water line on the street.
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At least three residential properties on David Street, a small road with seven homes off Gail Drive, which intersects with Union City Road near the Naugatuck Industrial Park, have tested positive for dangerously high levels of a colorless fluid called tetrachlorethylene, or PCE. It is used to degrease metal parts, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified it as a Group 2 carcinogen, meaning it probably causes cancer in humans.
The Board of Mayor and Burgesses on Tuesday took the first step in putting those residents on the public water supply. The board voted 6-0 to waive a bid process for installing the well. The vote means the borough will pay the Connecticut Water Co. $35,000 to install a public water line on the street.
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EPA Targeting NC Resident with Contaminated Well
July 6, 2010 - David Bradley, 61, runs an insulation business out of his home on Chapel Hill Church Road, near the contaminated former CTS of Asheville site. Now, based on a request from CTS, the Environmental Protection Agency has demanded that Bradley give out information on his home as a possible source of contamination or face stiff fines.
"The United States Environmental Protection Agency is currently investigating the release or threatened release of hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants, or hazardous wastes on or about the above-referenced Sites," a June 25 letter to Bradley and his company reads. "Compliance with the Infornation Request is mandatory. Failure to respond fully and truthfully to the Infornation Request within thirty (30) days of receipt of this letter, or to adequately justify such failure to respond, can result in an enforcement action by EPA."
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"The United States Environmental Protection Agency is currently investigating the release or threatened release of hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants, or hazardous wastes on or about the above-referenced Sites," a June 25 letter to Bradley and his company reads. "Compliance with the Infornation Request is mandatory. Failure to respond fully and truthfully to the Infornation Request within thirty (30) days of receipt of this letter, or to adequately justify such failure to respond, can result in an enforcement action by EPA."
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Oil-soaked Soil and Its Cleanup Worry Carson, CA Residents
July 4, 2010 - Bill Dehart talked about the pools of aging oil in the ground under his neighborhood as he swept dried Elm tree leaves recently on the street outside his Carson home.
The beginning of a massive cleanup of the Carousel tract was outlined last week in a tentative government order to polluter Shell Oil.
Like hundreds of other residents in this community north of Lomita Boulevard, between Marbella and Panama avenues, Dehart got the order in the mail from his attorneys in their class-action lawsuit against Shell.
But he still can't imagine how it will be possible to clean gobs of oil-drenched soil and groundwater without first leveling homes, streets and driveways.
"How are they gonna get out all that oil?" Dehart wondered. "I don't particularly trust them."
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The beginning of a massive cleanup of the Carousel tract was outlined last week in a tentative government order to polluter Shell Oil.
Like hundreds of other residents in this community north of Lomita Boulevard, between Marbella and Panama avenues, Dehart got the order in the mail from his attorneys in their class-action lawsuit against Shell.
But he still can't imagine how it will be possible to clean gobs of oil-drenched soil and groundwater without first leveling homes, streets and driveways.
"How are they gonna get out all that oil?" Dehart wondered. "I don't particularly trust them."
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Soil Tests Show Dioxins at Site of Former Watertown, MA Arsenal
July 2, 2010 - A consulting firm has released soil tests that show the extent of contamination on nearly 12 acres that were once part of the former Watertown Arsenal.
The results indicate the presence of cancer-causing dioxins and other soil contaminants, but have not yet been analyzed by the US Army Corps of Engineers, said project manager Ellen Iorio.
Iorio said that the results of the testing by MACTEC were expected, but it was impossible to be sure which industrial activities caused the contamination.
"We knew there’d be dioxins there, and we weren’t surprised by our findings," she said. "Watertown is an urban area with a lot going on."
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The results indicate the presence of cancer-causing dioxins and other soil contaminants, but have not yet been analyzed by the US Army Corps of Engineers, said project manager Ellen Iorio.
Iorio said that the results of the testing by MACTEC were expected, but it was impossible to be sure which industrial activities caused the contamination.
"We knew there’d be dioxins there, and we weren’t surprised by our findings," she said. "Watertown is an urban area with a lot going on."
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DNR Investigates Poisoned Wells In Caledonia, WI
June 28, 2010 - Don't drink the water. That's the message some Racine County residents have been hearing since last summer.
Their wells are contaminated, and they're still waiting to find out what's causing the problem.
"You can't drink it. You can't cook with it," Caledonia resident Gordon Polster said.
The problem is that his well, and many others, contains high levels of a contaminant called molybdenum. It is a naturally occurring byproduct of materials such as coal ash.
Polster and more than a dozen of his neighbors live near the WE Energies Oak Creek coal plant.
The Department of Natural Resources is trying to determine a source, and has identified a nearby landfill as a possibility.
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Their wells are contaminated, and they're still waiting to find out what's causing the problem.
"You can't drink it. You can't cook with it," Caledonia resident Gordon Polster said.
The problem is that his well, and many others, contains high levels of a contaminant called molybdenum. It is a naturally occurring byproduct of materials such as coal ash.
Polster and more than a dozen of his neighbors live near the WE Energies Oak Creek coal plant.
The Department of Natural Resources is trying to determine a source, and has identified a nearby landfill as a possibility.
More...
NJ Could Soon Add Up To 25 More Superfund Sites
June 27, 2010 - Already home to the largest number of Superfund toxic-waste sites in the nation, New Jersey expects to add 15 to 25 more properties to the National Priorities List in the next five years, state and federal authorities said.
And while adding to the list means the state is eligible for more federal cleanup money, it also means New Jersey has yet to see the end of its terrible legacy of contamination, one that in some instances dates back a century.
"We are still discovering cases we believe are going to involve multimillion-dollar remediation costs," said Ed Putnam, head of the Publicly Funded Remediation Program for the state Department of Environmental Protection. "If you need substantial remediation funding, in order to get it from the Superfund, you need to be on the National Priority List."
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And while adding to the list means the state is eligible for more federal cleanup money, it also means New Jersey has yet to see the end of its terrible legacy of contamination, one that in some instances dates back a century.
"We are still discovering cases we believe are going to involve multimillion-dollar remediation costs," said Ed Putnam, head of the Publicly Funded Remediation Program for the state Department of Environmental Protection. "If you need substantial remediation funding, in order to get it from the Superfund, you need to be on the National Priority List."
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Tanks Leaked Fuel Near Camp Lejeune, NC Well
June 24, 2010 - Federal scientists studying the history of water contamination at Camp Lejeune, N.C., have learned of another source of leaking fuel - this one less than a football field away from a drinking well that once served thousands of Marines and their families.
The well was closed in December 1984 after benzene was found in the water.
The source of contamination that scientists now are exploring was once an on-base refueling station within an area of the Marine base known as Hadnot Point. The refueling facility, Building 1115, contained seven underground storage tanks that ranged in size from 1,000 to 5,000 gallons.
The extent of the contamination on the Marine base - and its sources - are important to federal scientists at the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, an arm of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, who are trying to understand the health effects of the contaminants in the base's water.
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The well was closed in December 1984 after benzene was found in the water.
The source of contamination that scientists now are exploring was once an on-base refueling station within an area of the Marine base known as Hadnot Point. The refueling facility, Building 1115, contained seven underground storage tanks that ranged in size from 1,000 to 5,000 gallons.
The extent of the contamination on the Marine base - and its sources - are important to federal scientists at the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, an arm of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, who are trying to understand the health effects of the contaminants in the base's water.
More...
State Officials To Test For Well Water Contamination in Northampton, PA
June 24, 2010 - The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will begin testing private wells next month for potential groundwater contamination in the western end of Northampton Township.
Based on information from the Bucks County Department of Health regarding trichloroethylene (TCE) groundwater contamination, township manager Robert Pellegrino said Wednesday the state Department of Environmental Protection is instituting its Hazardous Waste Cleanup program in the township.
The state DEP has been finding TCE in groundwater sporadically in Bucks and Montgomery counties. TCE, a degreaser or solvent, is used by industry and to keep septic systems from clogging.
"Because of this, it is important to remind property owners with private wells of the need to have their wells sampled privately every five years for the suite of chemicals known as Volatile Organic Compounds, or VOCs, to ensure their drinking water supply is safe," said a press release from the township.
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