Toxic solvents underneath IBM building defy cleanup

Buildings on contaminated soil may
expose workers to harmful chemicals
through soil vapor intrusion: Experts.

ENDICOTT – After 35 years, IBM Corp. contractors have stanched the flow of industrial solvents into a commercial and residential district in the heart of the village, but they have yet to find a solution for the source of the problem at the company's former flagship manufacturing plant.

Officials recently reported that efforts to intercept and remove the subterranean flow of hazardous chemicals coming from the industrial complex — now owned by Huron Real Estate Associates — have been successful.

Consequently, health risks to a nearby neighborhood have been eliminated.

Yet they have no remedy for a concentrated pool of solvents directly under the manufacturing site, where at least 1,500 people still work.

It may take years before a proven remedy is found, according to Alex Czuhanich, an engineering geologist with the state Department of Environmental Conservation, although the agency has no timetable for the project.

The pollution, discovered in 1979, includes trichloroethylene (TCE) and other solvents used as industrial degreasers that have been linked to maladies ranging from cancer to birth defects.

IBM used vast quantities of the solvents to manufacture printed circuit boards during the company's heyday from the 1950s through the 1970s.

The contaminated hot spot — known as "the source area" on DEC records — lies under an area the size of eight village blocks, and it was once bustling with the delivery, handling, storage, transport and liberal use of solvents.

The source area encompasses a railroad corridor where chemicals arrived in bulk, loading docks where they were handled, and a network of tanks and pipelines that stored and transported virgin chemicals and chemical waste to and from various manufacturing lines throughout the campus, according to DEC records.

Situated over and near the source area, and blocking access to cleanup, are dozens of buildings, most of them massive, bunker-like, cement structures built during the Cold War era and some well before.

The contaminated ground is dense with tunnels, boiler rooms, tank rooms, crawl spaces, cables, pipes and conduits.

"There is just so much infrastructure there," Czuhanich said. "Trying to get anything in there (to remedy the problem) is difficult, at best."

To date, nearly 70,000 gallons of solvent — more than 40 tons — have been pumped from the ground. Officials don't know how much is left, according to DEC spokesman Peter Constantakes.

Court records filed by attorneys representing residents suing IBM for damages from the pollution put the solvent pool up to 1 million gallons "that had apparently collected over many years from leaking pipes and tanks."

Reluctance by IBM and the DEC to publicly discuss the source area has added to uncertainty about its status. IBM spokesman Todd Martin did not reply to phone calls or written inquires on the subject.

Safety debated

IBM sold the plant in 2002 to Huron Real Estate Associates, which now rents space to BAE Systems Electronics, i3 Electronics (formerly Endicott Interconnect), Binghamton University and other smaller firms that collectively employ between 1,500 and 2,000 workers.

TCE, the main contaminant under the campus, is not commonly used in bulk by industry in the U.S. anymore, though it is a pervasive contaminant at many Cold War-era industrial and military sites throughout the country.

In addition to the former IBM site, notorious TCE legacy sites in the Southern Tier include the CAE Electronics site in Hillcrest, and the Morse Industrial site in Tompkins County, both linked to contamination of nearby residential neighborhoods.

The TCE problem is as stubborn as it is complex. TCE is one of a class of chemicals that tend to be heavier than water, so they sink through the water table and adhere stubbornly to soil particles.

They also give off toxic fumes that rise from the ground, ending up in basements, crawl spaces and — ultimately — circulating into living spaces through a process known as vapor intrusion.

There is no national standard to limit TCE exposure in air, although there has been a political push to develop one since the federal Environmental Protection Agency determined in 2011 that the chemical was a carcinogen and a "non-cancer health hazard."

Just how much exposure presents a risk remains a controversial topic. Levels that might not affect one person could make another seriously ill. Pregnant women are particularly vulnerable.

According to the latest EPA assessment — challenged by the chemical industry — risks for non-cancer illnesses, such as birth defects, from short-term TCE exposure in residential settings are found to increase statistically at levels at or above 2 micrograms per cubic meter.

The agency has set the threshold for risks from short-term exposure in an industrial setting at 7, based on the assumption that people spend less time at work than in their homes.

Cancer risks become discernible for chronic exposure — the type people might experience in homes — at levels beginning at 0.43 micrograms, according to an EPA assessment.

New York state has set a broad guideline of 5 for residential and commercial exposure. But the agency often requires action at levels below the threshold when feasible.

Feasibility remains the issue at the Huron campus. Indoor air samples at 42 buildings collected in 2005 — the last time the state oversaw testing — ranged from zero to 17 micrograms per cubic meter in some areas that tended to be occupied. Levels were much higher in other areas — often registering between 50 and 300 micrograms in tunnels and tank rooms below Building 18, for example.

Concentrations in the soil directly below the buildings often exceeded 10,000 and sometimes were over 100,000 micrograms.

In 2005, the state health department determined that the TCE levels at the Huron campus present a "low" health risk to people working there, according to a report at the time. That means state health officials "do not expect to be able to associate health effects" from exposure.

Health department spokesman Jeffrey Hammond said the guideline remains "under review" as more information comes to light "to ensure that previous decisions and recommendations continue to protect public health."

In 2005, a health department study found elevated rates of testicular and kidney cancers, and birth defects that were "statistically significant" in an area affected by solvent pollution in the area south of the former IBM plant, and several blocks to the southwest of the plant polluted by an undetermined source. (The area has since been cleaned by the IBM remediation efforts.)

The results of a study by NIOSH and the health department evaluating birth outcomes of women who worked at the plant is expected to be released later this year.

By the numbers
• 35: Number of years IBM has been cleaning the pollution.
• 70,000: Number of gallons of concentrated chemicals removed so far.
• 1,500: Approximate number of employees who work at the site.
• 470: Number of structures off-site that have been fitted with vent systems to divert toxic fumes.
• 5: Safety threshold, in micrograms per cubic meter, for TCE exposure in air in New York state.
• 2: Level, in micrograms per cubic meter, at which risks associated with short-term TCE exposure increase statistically.

Source: PressConnects; This article has been edited for length.

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IBM to settle toxic spill suit

Company and plaintiffs announce a settlement over TCE releases from the former plant

The settlement ends a six-year saga.

IBM Corp. will settle a lawsuit brought by 1,000 plaintiffs who alleged that toxic spills from the company's former Endicott manufacturing plant caused illnesses and deaths, damaged property values and hurt businesses.

Both sides announced the settlement without revealing details of the agreement.

"IBM and the plaintiffs' counsel have reached this agreement in an effort to resolve these cases without further burdensome and expensive litigation," said the joint statement from the litigants.

The settlement brings to a close a more-than six-year saga in which IBM and those who claim they were harmed by the toxic releases waged a fierce legal battle on monetary rewards.

Affected residents, in a multi-million-dollar liability lawsuit against IBM, claimed the company should pay for the damage caused to residents around what once was the company's main domestic manufacturing facility.

From 1935 to the mid-1980s, IBM used TCE (trichloroethylene) to clean metal parts in degreasers at its industrial campus in the Village of Endicott. In 1979, the company discovered some of the TCE had pooled in groundwater beneath the facility and appeared to be migrating.

Soil vapor intrusion

Contamination from soil vapor intrusion was detected by the late 1990s, and by 2002, IBM began testing the air at the request of state health and environmental agencies. Basement ventilation systems were eventually installed in more than 400 homes.

Settlement negotiations between the parties began last July, when state Supreme Court Justice Ferrous D. Lebous requested that representatives of both sides start meeting about an out-of-court settlement. Negotiations were apparently successful, culminating with Tuesday night's release that the parties agreed to a settlement that satisfied both sides.

Lawyers of those who brought the suit against IBM said they will conduct meetings with clients over the coming weeks to present terms of the settlement.

IBM representatives said the company will continue the environmental cleanup that has been ongoing since the widening toxic plume was discovered.

Pumps spread throughout Endicott pull pollution from the ground through structures called recovery wells.

Over time, these wells have grown in number from four to more than 22, and to date, they have recovered more than 815,000 pounds of trichloroethylene and other toxic chemicals, with an unknown amount remaining beneath the village.

Company officials have never publicly explained IBM's role in the disaster, and their legal position was that the company always handled chemicals responsibly and in accordance with standards of the day.

They have not denied their former operations were a primary contributor to the pollution. They have not admitted it, either, nor have they offered a detailed explanation of the source of the problem.

Cleaning up industrial solvents

Representatives of the company said it was cleaning up the solvents from multiple industries that have operated in the region's industrial corridor for generations. Endicott was also home to the vast shoe manufacturing empire of Endicott Johnson Corp., once the region's largest employer.

However, the toxic-liability suit named only IBM as the source of the chemicals that tainted parts of Endicott's commercial district and nearby residences.

IBM sold the 140-acre campus to Huron Real Estate Associates in 2002. Current tenants include i3 Electronics (formerly Endicott Interconnect), BAE Systems and Binghamton University, among others.

Lawyers for IBM have long contended it was following the responsible path, picking up the sizable costs for cleaning the spill and providing venting systems for properties designated at-risk for vapor intrusion.

Both sides scored initial victories as the case wound its way through the courts. Lower courts ruled against IBM's motion to have the case dismissed, and ruled in favor of a plaintiff's motion to have charges of negligence — the underpinnings of the case — tried before a jury.

But lower court rulings also eliminated or limited some aspects of the litigation, including the charge that the pollution constitutes a trespass in all cases, and the claim that IBM should be held accountable for monitoring the medical condition of all plaintiffs, including non-property owners.

IBM was also able to limit claims for medical monitoring to only people claiming other damages, such as illness or property loss. That eliminated claims for a potentially large group of plaintiffs — renters and children, for example — who may have been exposed but did not develop illnesses or suffer property damage.

Source: PressConnects

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Chemical giant taken to court by community

Living close to a chemical company
affected their health, residents say.

The neat, modest homes of Cannon's Campground and Bellview Acres conceal tales of sickness and death.

Carcinoma, leukemia, kidney tumors — dozens of homes have a story, and very few have happy endings.

After decades of suspecting the nearby Hoechst Celanese polyester manufacturing site and its various occupants of spewing toxic chemicals into the environment, the community filed a class action lawsuit in federal district court.

The lawsuit alleges known carcinogens used at the plant have leached into ground and surface water that flows through the communities, resulting in dozens of cancer cases.

The suit seeks an injunction of all pollution-causing activities on the site as well as an order to identify and treat existing contamination and to prevent any further migration beneath private property.

The plaintiffs also seek a health monitoring program for community members to be administered by the court and paid for by the defendants. They are seeking reimbursement for lost property values and civil penalties.

In an emailed statement, Celanese spokesman Travis Jacobsen said there is no connection between contaminated groundwater at the site and the groundwater in the communities because the areas are separated by streams acting as discharge boundaries.

"Simply put, the environmental conditions at the Spartanburg plant site have not caused adverse health effects or a loss of property values in the nearby residences," Jacobsen wrote.

S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency studied cancer data after residents suggested a pollution link, but in a 2011 report said a cancer cluster did not exist.

The study examined the entire ZIP code the plant is located in and not the specific area near the plant where chemicals could have migrated, critics say.

The primary plaintiff is Jay Easler, but the suit was filed on behalf of all residents living in a two-mile radius of the site at the intersection of Interstate 85 and the Pacolet River.

Easler owns property abutting a stream known to locals as "polluted creek."

At a community meeting in 2011, a Celanese spokesman said Hoechst Celanese was never cited for pollution and always adhered to existing environmental controls.

DHEC's website states many current regulations were not in place when the plant began operations in 1966. Soil and groundwater contaminants were discovered in 1990 and mitigation efforts began in 1996.

A series of wells were installed along the border of the property to pump groundwater to the surface for treatment. Several years later, when evidence of contamination remained, solutions were pumped into the ground in an attempt to dissolve or disperse the chemicals.

Despite mitigation efforts, DHEC documents cited in the lawsuit reveal rising toxicity in the contaminated soil and groundwater beneath the site and an expanding plume of contaminants reaching off the site. In 2011, the first-ever DHEC testing of private wells confirmed contaminants found at the site were also in the drinking water supply.

The chemicals were found only in trace amounts in the wells, but many people could have been exposed over prolonged periods of time. Many residents no longer use well water and have switched to the city water.

Source: GoUpstate.com

This article has been edited for length.

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Residents sue General Mills over TCE soil pollution

Soil vapor intrusion fears for Minneapolis homeowners

Two class-action lawsuits were filed against General Mills by residents in the Como neighborhood of southeast Minneapolis, where state-ordered testing has shown troubling concentrations of the pollutant TCE in soil below their homes.

Updated results have been published as of Friday morning for 58 of roughly 200 homes in the target area, southwest of a former General Mills facility where solvents containing TCE (trichloroethylene) were dumped decades ago and filtered into soil and groundwater. Thirty-seven have turned up with higher-than-acceptable levels of the chemical.

Testing has been completed at another 16 properties, but results haven’t been released, and has been arranged but not completed at another 65 properties, according to a map published by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), which is overseeing the cleanup project.

TCE exposure has been linked to
cancer and other health concerns.

Three property owners refused testing.

Prolonged exposure to high TCE levels has been linked to elevated risks of cancer and other health problems.

A contractor funded by General Mills is installing ventilation systems — commonly used to remove radon from homes — in the problem properties to prevent the harmful buildup of TCE.

Since the public disclosure of TCE contamination in soil gas in the neighborhood last month, only half of the property owners have scheduled testing of the soil gas below their basements.

The high number of rental homes in the area — many occupied by University of Minnesota students — has added to the challenge of securing testing agreements from the property owners.

However, three attorneys from Minneapolis and Chicago jointly sued in U.S. District Court on behalf of two residents of the Como neighborhood, Karl Ebert and Carol Krauze. And a Minneapolis firm filed a similar suit in Hennepin County District Court on behalf of resident Jill Ruzicka.

Both cases seek class-action status to represent all residents affected by TCE contamination below their homes.

Both were filed ahead of a high-profile community meeting arranged Saturday by Integrated Resource Management, a California firm tied to pollution crusader Erin Brockovich that investigates industrial contamination.

A General Mills representative could not be reached in time for publication.

Source: Star Tribune

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TCE soil vapor intrusion fears in Como

Soil vapor intrusion allows contaminants
to enter homes and businesses.

Minnesota health and pollution officials are holding community forums to discuss efforts to discuss efforts to handle TCE, a degreasing solvent that may be invading homes in the Como area of southeast Minneapolis.

TCE, which stands for trichloroethylene, had been dumped from 1947 to 1962 in a pit behind a now-defunct General Mills plant.

The state is asking some 200 property owners near Van Cleve Park to allow testing in their basements to determine whether TCE vapors in the soil below their foundations are finding a way into their homes.

Prolonged, substantial exposure to TCE has been linked to certain cancers such as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma as well as birth defects.

While there is no evidence that cancer or other health problems are more prevalent in the neighborhood, state officials said they are acting out of caution as science has revealed more about the way TCE can evaporate from groundwater and rise through soils.

The neighborhood’s TCE problem has been known since the early 1980s, when the old General Mills property at 2010 E. Hennepin Av. was declared a federal Superfund cleanup site.

General Mills agreed to pay for the pumping and treatment of groundwater to remove traces of the chemical.

Groundwater treatment continued until 2010, when the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency declared it was safe to halt the cleanup — but monitoring since that time found TCE in the soil gas below the surface.

Forty tests were conducted on the soil under sidewalks and streets in a wide section of the Como neighborhood near the old General Mills site. Thirteen sites showed TCE rates above residential air safety standards, allowing health officials to pinpoint a 16-block area trailing southwest from the plant to Van Cleve.


Tests and remedies

General Mills has agreed to arrange and pay for testing for TCE, at a cost of about $1,000 per property, as well as the $2,000-per-property cost of fixing homes or businesses if TCE is found. In most cases, the solution will be a ventilation system similar to the ones used in homes to remove radon.

The company previously paid to remove contaminated soil from the site of its former food and chemical research plant, which has since been sold and redeveloped into small-business offices.

To assess any potential health problems, the Health Department has reviewed data from its registries of all birth defects and cancer cases in the state. The 55414 ZIP code, which includes the Como neighborhood, does not have a higher rate of birth defects.

A review of the cancer database is ongoing.


Editor's note: This article has been edited.

Source: Star Tribune

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EPA to act on leaking containers at New Jersey facility

EPA obtains warrant to address over 1000 drums and containers at New Jersey facility; Ongoing investigation reveals presence of hazardous materials

Leaking drums and containers can
be a public health hazard.

(New York, N.Y.) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has obtained a federal warrant to do the necessary cleanup work at the Superior Barrel & Drum company facility in Elk Township, New Jersey, where more than a thousand unlabeled or improperly labeled drums and other containers have been left in a state of disrepair.

Many of the drums are leaking their contents onto the ground and are exposed to wind and rain.

The EPA and the NJDEP are currently investigating the drums and containers at the site under a warrant that was previously issued by a federal judge when the facility owner refused to give the EPA access to the facility.

The EPA is working with Elk Township, the local fire and police departments and the NJDEP on the investigation and cleanup of the facility.

The EPA is currently evaluating what substances are present in the drums and containers and assessing whether they could cause a chemical release or fire. The site is partially in a federally protected wetland.

Hazardous materials can cause health issues

The EPA began its investigation on August 30, 2013. Field tests indicate that some drums contain hazardous materials, including corrosive and flammable chemicals.

The preliminary results of samples sent to the laboratory show the presence of volatile organic compounds such as benzene and other hazardous substances such as lead.

Exposure to these pollutants can have serious health effects. Benzene is known to cause cancer and lead is a toxic metal that is especially dangerous to children because their growing bodies can absorb more of it than adults. Lead in children can result in I.Q. deficiencies, reading and learning disabilities, reduced attention spans, hyperactivity and other behavioral problems.

The EPA is continuing to sample the contents of containers and drums at the site. The first set of final laboratory data is expected in the next few weeks. The EPA has secured the facility by installing fencing, warning signs and round the clock surveillance.

Once it completes its investigation, the EPA will work with state and local agencies to take appropriate steps to remove the hazardous waste and protect the public.

For photos and information about the EPA’s work at the Superior Barrel & Drum site, click here.

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Vapor intrusion forcing people out of their homes

Toxic chemicals from contaminated soil can find their
way inside homes and affect the residents.

Whenever homes, schools or other buildings are constructed on top of previously contaminated land, toxic chemicals and gases may find their way inside, where they can affect people’s health and well-being.

This is supposedly what happened in a Scottish neighborhood near Glasgow.

Built on a site that was used by industrial plants from the 1940s until the 1970s, homes that were tested showed high levels of toxic chemicals in the ambient air.

The toxins were

• Trichloroethylene (an industrial solvent)
• Tetrachloroethylene (dry-cleaning fluid)
• Polychlorinated biphenols
• Polyaromatic carbons

The air inside 25 homes was tested in June and July 2011 and found levels of the chemicals at much higher levels than deemed acceptable by WHO standards. Apart from the high levels of chemicals, experts also worried about the mixture of toxins people are exposed to.

One family moved away after the wife developed nose bleeds, headaches and nausea a few years after moving there.

The family is suing the landlord over the toxic fume exposure in a test case that may be of interest to more than 40 families living in the area.

The plaintiffs allege that a required remediation of the place did not take place.

The chemicals in question have been linked to irritations, Parkinson’s disease, cancer and developmental disorders.

Source: The Scotsman

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Vapor intrusion rising as main cleanup concern

Vapor intrusion can become a concern in any
home or building, experts say.

When it comes to human exposure to pollutants, regulators have traditionally been most concerned with contaminated soil and water – but polluted air caused by vapor intrusion is fast becoming a major cleanup issue, experts say.

According to the Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council, polluted ground and water have been around for centuries, while vapor intrusion entered the public debate about two decades ago, making it the new kid on the block.

New guidelines, issued in 2010 by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, describe how to investigate and prevent vapors from entering homes or buildings.

Health effects of vapor intrusion

Regulators are becoming concerned about the health effects that potential vapor intrusion issues can cause in building occupants. Many chemicals and solvents have been linked to cancer and other serious health effects.

The EPA is still working on its own guidelines.

Well-known vapor intrusion offenders include dry cleaners. When dry cleaning operations contaminated the ground underneath their business with perchloroethylene (perc), the dry cleaning fluid, the chemical could often be detected in adjacent homes or buildings, having entered through cracks or opening in the foundation or building envelope.

Other solvents and chemical substances can become vapor intrusion concerns, including 1,1 dichloroethene and trichloroethene which were used in industrial applications.

Consultants and industrial hygienist often recommend indoor air mitigation systems similar to those used for radon to reduce risks of exposure.

Source: Sheboygan Press

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Site history an important factor when planning new schools

Children are susceptible to poor indoor air quality in school.

Having enough schools is important, but not every site is suitable.

This blog has featured tons of entries about schools plagued by vapor intrusion from contaminated land, water or air, the effect of nearby highways and industrial plants, mold, radon and other factors known to influence the indoor air quality in schools.

Building schools on suitable sites should be a priority, since children are so much more susceptible to environmental pollution. As they are still growing, they eat, drink and breathe more in proportion to their body size than adults do.

In one of the latest school-location dramas, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is planning to build an elementary school in a working class neighborhood that would mean polluted property, a high-traffic area, train tracks and towering industrial plants nearby.

School would sit on contaminated land

The proposed site previously housed a gas station and a car wash.

Preliminary testing revealed eight underground gasoline storage tanks (one of them leaking) and unsafe levels of the chemical benzene in the soil.

Benzene is often used as a solvent and can also be a gasoline additive. The final extent of the contamination won’t be known until more testing is done.

CPS bought the property “as is” and would have to pay for all cleanup costs before building a school on top of it.

The school district paid $1.1 million for the property, and officials say there is a desperate need for a new elementary school in the community.

Aside from the soil concerns, the area also suffers from poor indoor air quality because of a coal-fired power plant in nearby Hammond and thousands of trucks, cars and freight trains.

Poor air quality or contamination issues become a concern because pollutants can enter the building and build up indoors.

Parents are concerned about the proposed site and would have preferred an expansion to the existing schools.

Source: Chicago Tribune

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More lawsuits filed over alleged benzene exposure

Living near an oil refinery may expose
you to airborne chemicals and gases.

Shell Oil Co. and others have been hit with a steady stream of lawsuits claiming that benzene leaks around the oil refinery caused cancer.

The latest comes from a 28-year-old man who attended school next to the Shell Oil Co. refinery. His complaint states that he suffers from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system (blood cancer).

He is the sixth plaintiff to file a lawsuit against the company, but the only one with non-Hodgkin’s so far – the other plaintiffs had different blood cancers.

In their complaints, the plaintiffs allege that Shell and BP Amoco knew about the dangers of benzene and publicly minimized the risks. They are each asking for damages well above $50,000.

The complaint alleges that Shell has known about the dangers of airborne benzene because of a high incidence of cancer at the Wood River Refinery in the 1970s and soil vapor intrusion studies in the 1980s.

Soil vapor intrusion describes the process of contaminants from soil or groundwater entering a home or building through cracks and fissures in the foundation.

In May 2008, the Illinois EPA cited Shell for violating the Illinois Environmental Protection Act 41 times by exceeding the standards for the release of benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene and xylene into the groundwater of Roxana, the complaint says.

Shell has filed an answer in at least one of the cases. It admits that the company has processed, handled and stored benzene. It admits that benzene has been classified as a human carcinogen "when exposed to it at significant levels over a sufficient period of time."

However, Shell denies it caused or contributed to injuries and damages, any cover-up or negligence and that it knew of the dangers it allegedly caused. BP has filed a similar answer.

Source: The Telegraph

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