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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2009 > July > 20
Monday, July 20, 2009
Editorial: EPA owes more to residents of McCook Field
(McCook Field neighbors produced this video about the TCE spill)
Dayton has a nasty environmental mess on its hands. The problem deserves faster action and more responsiveness from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The EPA should do what Dayton’s well-regarded Environmental Advisory Board has asked: provide extra protection to more than 400 homeowners.
In the ground beneath the McCook Field neighborhood is a huge plume of contamination that includes trichloroethylene, or TCE, a solvent that apparently leaked from a former Chrysler plant that is now home to Behr Dayton Thermal Products. TCE is a suspected carcinogen. Its effects on human health are not well understood.
More than 200 homes already have had special vacuum systems installed to suck out potentially dangerous vapors. With the systems, the EPA believes the homeowners are safe. They are designed to keep indoor air safe by redirecting TCE fumes to the outdoors.
But neighbors want — and deserve — better assurance than that. In a YouTube video, activists make the case for the EPA to conduct regular testing of the air inside affected homes that have the vacuum systems. (Keep in mind that some houses needed a second vacuum system to bring the vapor levels down far enough, and, as the plume migrates, concentrations can change.)
The city’s Environmental Advisory Board has been asking for nearly a year for testing to be extended beyond the usual one-year period. It cites federal law that it says makes residents eligible for an extension.
EPA officials say they are still considering the idea, and they don’t believe anyone’s health is currently at risk. Repeated air testing is costly.
The agency’s work on this situation has been admirable. It has taken steps to try to speed up addressing the spill. It has named the plume a federal Superfund site and placed it on the National Priorities List, which, in theory, should expedite a cleanup. Even so, fixing the problem is a complicated process and likely will take years to resolve. The EPA must evaluate a host of cleanup options. The contaminated area is large and awkwardly placed. Cleaning groundwater is expensive and can be tricky.
There also is the matter of who is at fault, and who will pay what will be a stiff tab for the cleanup. Chrysler admits some responsibility but is arguing that Behr and other businesses may also be at fault (and, therefore, liable for some of the costs). A big battle is likely.
It’s already been 2 1/2 years since the plume was first discovered and little progress toward cleanup has been made.
In the meantime, residents rightfully worry about their health and their homes (which have plummeted in value). If the neighborhood were made up of million-dollar homes rather than modest, working-class ones, what do you bet that progress would be happening faster?
More testing makes sense if protecting residents is a priority. The EPA should make that happen, and all parties dealing with the spill — federal and local governments and the related companies — need to accept, not avoid, responsibility for ending a nightmare.
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