THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 6, 1996 TAG: 9603060648
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT HARPER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
A chemical scare sparked last week by the unnerving discovery of three large, underground storage tanks near a mosquito-control station has ended with a sigh of relief.
Chemical tests, ordered by Chesapeake officials in the wake of wild rumors about what might be buried in the ground, determined Tuesday that the oily material inside the tanks was not DDT, as was originally feared.
It is a non-toxic, anti-mosquito product known as Flit, said Mark Cox, a city spokesman.
``It's a mess that has to be cleaned up,'' Cox said, ``but thankfully, there's no threat as far as we can tell.''
Flit, a mineral oil-based material, was popular in the 1970s and '80s. Spread across waterways and breeding ponds in a thin sheen, it smothered mosquito larvae.
But the substance no longer is manufactured and has not been used in Chesapeake for nearly a decade, said Leroy Bohn, a mosquito-control superintendent.
A construction crew accidently pierced one of the underground tanks Feb. 23 while grading land for a new parking lot at the Chesapeake Mosquito Control Commission's Washington borough office on Hollowell Lane.
Upon closer inspection, the crew found three tanks, one of which was leaking a strong-smelling oily substance.
The find triggered a nervous round of anonymous phone calls to the city fire marshal's office, which responds to hazardous-waste spills, and to local media and several city officials.
The callers expressed worries that the material might be DDT, buried in the tanks after the federal government banned its use in 1972.
A highly toxic pesticide, DDT nearly caused the extinction of numerous birds, including the bald eagle and osprey.
Greg Orfield, an investigator with the fire marshal's office, went to the site Feb. 27.
Construction work was halted, the site was declared off-limits and samples were taken from the 3,000-gallon tanks, Orfield said.
He, too, had received an anonymous call, and was apprehensive about approaching the site.
But he was surprised at what he found.
``The tanks were largely filled with sand and sandy material,'' he said.
``There was some evidence of an oily residue, but I had expected a lot worse.''
Still, Orfield checked city records to determine whether DDT could have been stockpiled by the mosquito-control commission.
He found no such records.
Construction work is expected to start again this week. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
THE CAUSE
A construction crew accidentally pierced one of the underground
tanks Feb. 23 while grading land for a new parking lot at the
Chesapeake Mosquito Control Commission's Washington borough office
on Hollowell Lane.
by CNB