Wednesday, April 22, 2015

AFTER TCE- AND PCE-CONTAMINATED SLUDGE WAS INITIALLY DISCOVERED IN 1999 AT SANDVIK’S PLANT, RESIDENTS IN FOUR ABINGTONS, PA MUNICIPALITIES WILL HAVE ACCESS TO CLEAN, PUBLIC WATER.




APRIL 22, 2015

ABINGTONS, PENNSYLVANIA

A decade after the state Department of Environmental Protection found industrial solvents contaminated well water in four Abingtons municipalities, residents will have access to clean, public water.

A $20 million extension of a line owned by Pennsylvania American Water — paid for by two Ivy Industrial Park tenants — began earlier this month, the DEP announced Tuesday. The 20-mile-long line will connect 400 households in Scott, South Abington, Waverly and North Abington townships to the utility. The project is part of the terms of an April 2011 settlement with industrial park tenants Bostik Inc. and Sandvik Inc. — the companies the DEP deemed responsible for contaminating groundwater with trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (PCE) in those townships.

For about a year and half after contamination was found, Harry Bower, who lives in a contaminated section of Kevin Drive in Scott Twp., received bottled water. Then a water filter system, paid for and maintained by Sandvik Inc., was installed. He said 10 years without a solution to the contamination was too long.
“This has been a nightmare, like we’re cursed,” he said.

No official told his family how contaminated their well was or how effective the filter system is, he said. He thought about moving, but with contaminated groundwater, he said he couldn’t find a buyer. “I had two kids growing up there,” he said. “I’ve been worried this whole time about what’s in our water.”

A 2009 study Sandvik submitted to the DEP showed TCE- and PCE-laden sludge was initially discovered in 1999 at the company’s plant. However, it wasn’t until 2005 that widespread groundwater testing began when TCE turned up in well tests at neighboring Metso Paper USA Inc.

Finding a solution to the problem took a decade because first the DEP had to determine the scope and source of the contamination and work out the settlement details with the responsible parties, DEP spokeswoman Colleen Connolly said.

“I know it seems like a long time but we wanted to make sure this was done right and methodically,” she said.

TCE has been known to cause several types of cancer as well as neurotoxicity, developmental toxicity, liver toxicity and kidney toxicity if it is ingested or absorbed through the skin, according to reports issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The 2009 report documents TCE groundwater contamination at levels exceeding 42,000 parts per billion in at least one location and at 18,000 in another. The EPA sets the safe drinking water level of TCE at 5 ppb.

Mr. Bower has been concerned about the health risks of the contamination because three of his neighbors developed tumors or cancer, he said.

Because no health study was done, Ms. Connolly said there’s no way to know if the chemicals caused in health issues.

Mr. Bower is also not pleased with having to pay a water bill after drilling his own well.

“I put in a well for $5,000, and now I’m going to get a water bill because these villains contaminated my water,” he said
Source: http://thetimes-tribune.com