Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 17, 1994 TAG: 9407130045
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The consent agreement, reached last week, follows the discovery two years ago of contaminated drinking water in wells in a nearby residential area.
Trichloroethylene, or TCE, was found at levels well above EPA standards for safe drinking water.
"We don't know for sure yet that they are the source," said EPA spokeswoman Ruth Podems.
Don Hershey, vice president and director of human resources for ITT, also stressed that it's unclear whether the TCE originated from the company's two facilities, on Plantation Road and Enon Drive.
The audit will determine where the contamination is, where it's coming from and where it's going, Podems said. ITT also must clean up the contamination as part of the agreement.
Podems said it's not unusual for the EPA to require a full investigation of air, surface water, soil and groundwater after a facility has had problems containing pollutants.
"While we have them spending money, we say look at everything. We don't want them to get the one thing, we want them to get everything," Podems said.
Hershey said company executives don't know how much the audit and cleanup will cost.
In 1992, TCE was found during a routine inspection of a well supplying Tinkerview Trailer Court, off Plantation Road. Shortly afterward, the residents were put on the public water supply.
The State Water Control Board, now under the Department of Environmental Quality, found sufficient evidence to implicate ITT in the contamination and ordered the company to pay $92,500 for the water lines and connections.
TCE is a synthetic, colorless, odorless compound used as an industrial solvent and degreaser. It is suspected of causing cancer in humans. At the time the contamination was discovered, no human effects were confirmed.
ITT must identify actual and potential human and environmental receptors of the contamination.
The public will have a chance to comment for 30 days on the company's cleanup plan, which may not be proposed for at least another year. Hershey said the first phase of the investigation may take six months. An EPA project manger and state environmental officials were at the plant Thursday for an initial tour of the facility, he said.
ITT had announced a plan shortly after the discovery of the TCE to reduce or eliminate chemicals that are on the EPA's so-called toxic hit list. Hershey said he did not know how far along ITT was toward that goal. He said that, except for a small amount of TCE used by one facility briefly, ITT has not used the chemical for four or five years. Before that, the company stored TCE in underground tanks at its facility, he said.
Podems said the two-year lag from the time the TCE contamination was discovered to the consent order reached last week was typical.
"It just takes time to get these orders drafted, get them negotiated and get them signed," she said. The contamination probably took place over several years - "You just can't snap your fingers and have it be clean."
by CNB