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