The Kelly Air Force Base community has long been calling for indoor air sampling to see if toxic gases are seeping into their homes from the shallow groundwater plume extending from the former base. The process, called "vapor intrusion," could help explain the elevated rates of liver and kidney cancer in the area.
The Express-News recently reported the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) commitment to conduct testing for vapor intrusion ("Residents need answers about Kelly chemicals", April 17, 2008). However, the EPA's plans are so seriously flawed that we must question the Agency's motives. The EPA plans to take samples of gas in soil from under 20 homes in the neighborhood north of the former base. Indoor air will only be tested in "up to" five homes.
In contrast, at Hill Air Force Base in Utah, EPA Region 8 has helped to take over 3,000 indoor air samples in 1,400 homes spread across several communities. Depressurization systems are installed to disperse gases at homes with elevated levels of trichloroethylene (TCE), which are monitored four times a year.EPA staff did not give Congressman Gonzalez's office a chance to review the plan prior to its release despite promising to do so. In a letter to the Agency dated April 16^th , the Congressman questioned the limited scope of the study and the lack of consultation with any local residents or agencies. A November 19^th memo to the EPA from our organizations outlining nine key strategies for an adequate vapor intrusion study was completely ignored.
The North Kelly Gardens neighborhood does have some of the highest levels of contamination, but other areas also deserve examination. Groundwater under homes in the Normoyl Park area has concentrations of TCE over 10 times the EPA's current standard of 5 parts per billion.
Tests by the Air Force last year found a related cancer-causing chemical, PCE, in concentrations up to 2,000 times the EPA's standard underneath buildings 360 and 301 on the former base. Yet the EPA has no plans to test the air Lockheed Martin workers breathe there every day.
The EPA plans to sample in May, though toxic gases accumulate more in the winter when houses are sealed. The testing will also focus on soil, when indoor air samples have been shown to be less intrusive, more informative, and more cost effective.
The EPA's plan is consistent with a disturbing trend on the part of the Agency, specifically Gary Miller, EPA's liaison for Kelly, to disregard community concerns and act in close partnership with the Air Force. The Agency stalled on updating its standards for TCE after finding it to be several times more dangerous than previously thought because of pressure from the Department of Defense. Senator Clinton and four other Senators were so concerned that they introduced legislation last year explicitly requiring the EPA to live up to its requirements and issue the new TCE standards in a timely manner.
However, just this month the EPA revised its rules which will further delay the process, allow the DOD a confidential sneak preview, and give the White House a final say over the review. In a report released yesterday, 60% of EPA scientists who responded to a survey by the Union of Concerned Scientists said they had experienced political interference in their work.As organizations with over 14 years of history in this community, we fear the EPA's piecemeal study will be used to dismiss the possibility of vapor intrusion and justify a continued "hands-off" approach to off-base contamination, rather than thoroughly examine the exposure of families.Until the community is involved in revising the EPA's study, we will discourage our members from participating. And regardless of the EPA's findings, we will continue to insist that our families deserve a clean-up as rapid and complete as more affluent neighborhoods across the country.
Lara Cushing, Environmental Justice Coordinator, Southwest Workers Union
Guadalupe Alvarado, President, Committee for Environmental Justice Action
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