To date, 400 homes have been checked for indoor air pollution that can enter the homes via vapors from the groundwater plume contaminated with tetrachloroethylene, or PCE, and trichloroethylene, or TCE. Eighty-five have had indoor air mitigation systems installed.
Testing has shown that the contamination starts near the intersection of Valley Street and Minnesota Avenue. With the flow of groundwater traveling in a southwesterly direction tracking Valley Street, sampling has shown the plume stops at Pompano Court and is about a half mile in length, so its extent appears to be mapped.
The plume is far from the city of Dayton’s wellfields, and the goal is to intercept it, said Renninger, who is part of the EPA’s Superfund Division. The fields are northwest and southeast of the plume.
“The wellfield is not impacted,” Renninger said.
The program to clean the groundwater won’t begin until at least 2016, Renninger added. He said investigators are close to figuring out where the contamination began.
EPA investigators want access to another 100 homes to complete sampling. Despite notices and visits, many homeowners haven’t given permission yet for testing, Renninger said.
In all, the EPA is funding the $500 sampling costs and the $5,000 air removal system that makes the indoor air safe.
Jessica Hafer, 31, lives on North Pleasant Valley with her husband Steven, 44, and two boys, Stevie, 6 and Jessie, 4.
She’s pleased with the system installed by the EPA.
“It seems to be doing what it’s supposed to do,” she said. “The contamination is supposed to cause cancer. We’re glad we got it in.”
Dusty Hall, a member of Dayton’s Environmental Advisory Board, said the levels of groundwater contamination are among the highest he’s seen. Hall helped develop Dayton’s wellfield protection plan in the 1980s. The board was briefed earlier this month on the plume.
“It’s disappointing we continue to discover plumes originating at manufacturing sites in sensitive groundwater areas,” he said. “This one will be have to be carefully watched and aggressively managed to prevent contamination of operating public water supply wells.”
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