SUSPECTED CARCINOGEN FOUND IN TRAILER PARK WELL

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 21, 1992                   TAG: 9202210288
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GEORGE KEGLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
SUSPECTED CARCINOGEN FOUND IN TRAILER PARK WELL
The state Health Department is investigating a suspected carcinogen found in a Hollins area trailer court well.
Trichloroethylene (TCE), the chemical, was discovered in December in a routine inspection of a well supplying Tinkerview Trailer Court, off Plantation Road, according to Jesse Mayhew, district engineer for the Health Department in Lexington. A second sample was taken for confirmation.
The well was taken off line Wednesday and the 22 to 25 residents of the trailer court are receiving water from Roanoke County, he said.
No complaints were received from the residents, Mayhew said. The chemical, new on the Environmental Protection Agency standards list, is a colorless liquid and it probably has no taste, he said.
TCE, a compound used in degreasing, like a solvent in cleaning or a lubricant in cutting, has been tested only with animals "as far as we know," Mayhew said. He called it a possible threat to humans, "not a major problem."
Dr. Molly Hagan, Alleghany Region health director, is looking into the effects of the chemical on humans, according to Mayhew. Hagan was out of her Vinton office Thursday.
Mayhew said he does not know the source of the chemical. The nearby ITT Electro-Optical Products plant said it is cooperating with the Health Department in the investigation.
Kip Foster of the state Water Control Board regional office said his office "may possibly take enforcement action against the responsible party," he said.
The EPA has known about TCE for years "but just now set standards" for its use, Mayhew said. His samples exceeded the EPA standards. The EPA requires that organic compounds on its list be tested quarterly for the first year.
This was the first trace of TCE found in the Roanoke area, he said. Mayhew said he plans to meet with other Health Department and Water Control Board representatives Monday "to plan what to do next and to find out whether the chemical has spread to other wells."

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB