Complete coverage
The Springfield News-Sun provides unmatched coverage of health issues that affect residents in Clark and Champaign counties. For this story, the paper spoke with company officials, residents and health and environmental experts.
By the numbers
48: Number of homes contacted for possible TCE testing
34: Number of homes where TCE testing was completed
4: Number of homes where TCE exceeded regulatory levels in the living space
8: Number of homes where TCE exceeded regulatory levels in the crawlspace
A Springfield manufacturing firm is moving forward with a lengthy clean-up with help from the Ohio EPA, but local health officials are hoping to see more cooperation from its neighbors.
Cascade Corp. officials have been working for more than a year to test for and eventually clean up a chemical called trichloroethylene, or TCE. Part of the clean-up includes reaching out to dozens of residents in a neighborhood across the street from the facility to test for signs of vapor intrusion from the chemical.
Information from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency shows the effort has recently expanded, and a total of 64 homes have now been proposed for indoor air sampling to check for traces of the chemical.
However, officials at the Clark County Combined Health District are seeking a higher rate of response from residents to allow the tests. The health department recently sent letters to 23 homes, mostly on Mayfair Drive and South Clairmont Avenue, to ask to be allowed to conduct indoor air testing, said Larry Shaffer, the district’s director of environmental health.
“The response from homeowners who have allowed the testing has been less than we would like,” said Charlie Patterson, director of the health district.
TCE is chemical that was once commonly used to clean metal parts in the manufacturing industry. Cascade, which has about 185 employees, stopped using TCE several years ago, and the company has been working with the Ohio EPA on a voluntary clean-up since a spill occurred at Cascade in 1988.
Long-term exposure to TCE at high levels has been associated with several types of cancers, as well as dizziness, difficulty concentrating and headaches, among other symptoms.
Drinking water is not affected because residents in the neighborhood use city drinking water. But local officials are testing for vapor intrusion, a process in which TCE can evaporate and vapors can rise into nearby homes.
Homes in which elevated levels have been found have had vapor systems installed to resolve the problem, but several residents still have not allowed the testing.
Chris Clark, who lives across the street from the facility, said he did have his home tested and was told the samples came back below levels of concern. But he added that the testing was inconvenient and the letter was confusing.
“I’ve been here for 12 years, and I didn’t know what was going on,” Clark said.
So far, 48 homes have been contacted, and sampling was completed at 34, said Dina Pierce, a spokeswoman for the Ohio EPA. The TCE exceeded regulatory levels in the living space at four homes, which have had the vapor systems installed. The TCE also exceeded levels in the crawlspace of eight homes, and all of those have also had systems installed, Pierce said.
The company has offered to install systems in those homes to filter and clean the air at no cost to the occupants. Residents whose homes didn’t exceed recommended levels but still have concerns can also ask that the systems be installed at the company’s expense.
Some residents have declined to allow testing because they fear it might affect the value of their homes, Shaffer said. But having the homes tested should not impact the home’s value, he added.
“It’s discouraging because we want people to step up and help protect their health,” Patterson said.
The company also monitors groundwater in the neighborhood across the street after trace amounts of the chemical have migrated outside the company’s property.
Despite some residents who have declined testing, company officials said most neighbors have been cooperative, said Rodney Hickman, plant manager at Cascade.
“We’re just making sure that they are thoroughly aware that if they would like to be tested and they come up with a reading that’s higher than the EPA threshold, or even if its below the threshold but there’s a slight presence, we’ll offer the system to them just as a precaution,” Hickman said.
The company has also installed monitoring wells in the neighborhood, and has a good idea of where the chemical is.
“Hopefully it will be remediated here in the near future and it will no longer be an issue for anyone in the neighborhood,” Hickman said.
About the Author