The TCE Levels Reported by Tests Keep Going UP
Last April, we presented these test results:
Data from
http://ship.no-ip.org
as of 28 April 2007.
These are all the "Outside" ("Ambient
Air") values reported for TCE.
No statistical claims are made as to the validity of comparing the first
two rounds (some of which tests used a threshold value of 0.82) with
later rounds where a threshold of 0.218 was used exclusively. The
relative number of detects within the tests reported speaks for itself.
Indoor I, Fall 2004 (2 detects out of 15 tests)
| Level |
Threshold |
Address |
Date |
|
3.8 |
0.82 |
430 S Geneva St |
19 Oct 2004 |
|
1.8 |
0.82 |
430 S Geneva St |
19 Oct 2004 |
|
-- |
0.82 |
501 S Cayuga St |
28 Sep 2004 |
|
-- |
0.82 |
501 S Cayuga St |
05 Oct 2004 |
|
-- |
0.82 |
503 S Cayuga St |
19 Oct 2004 |
|
-- |
0.82 |
506 S Cayuga St |
09 Dec 2004 |
|
-- |
0.82 |
521 S Cayuga St |
06 Oct 2004 |
|
-- |
0.82 |
521 S Cayuga St |
12 Oct 2004 |
|
-- |
0.82 |
521 S Cayuga St |
26 Oct 2004 |
|
-- |
0.82 |
521 S Cayuga St |
16 Nov 2004 |
|
-- |
0.82 |
431 S Geneva St |
12 Oct 2004 |
|
-- |
0.82 |
121 South Hill Terr |
28 Sep 2004 |
|
-- |
0.82 |
508 Turner Pl |
05 Oct 2004 |
|
-- |
0.82 |
601 Turner Pl |
09 Dec 2004 |
|
-- |
0.82 |
105 Wood St |
26 Oct 2004 |
Indoor II, Winter 2005 (2 detects out of 21 tests)
| Level |
Threshold |
Address |
Date |
|
3.88 |
0.218 |
430 S Geneva St |
23 Feb 2005 |
|
1.2 |
0.82 |
505 S Cayuga St |
23 Feb 2005 |
|
-- |
0.218 |
108 Hillview Pl |
30 Mar 2005 |
|
-- |
0.218 |
607 S Albany St |
04 Mar 2005 |
|
-- |
0.82 |
501 S Cayuga St |
25 Jan 2005 |
|
-- |
0.218 |
504 S Cayuga St |
10 Mar 2005 |
|
-- |
0.82 |
505 S Cayuga St |
08 Feb 2005 |
|
-- |
0.82 |
509 S Cayuga St |
27 Jan 2005 |
|
-- |
0.82 |
513 S Cayuga St |
10 Feb 2005 |
|
-- |
0.218 |
514 S Cayuga St |
10 Mar 2005 |
|
-- |
0.218 |
601 S Cayuga St |
24 Feb 2005 |
|
-- |
0.82 |
430 S Geneva St |
08 Feb 2005 |
|
-- |
0.218 |
126 South Hill Terr |
21 Apr 2005 |
|
-- |
0.82 |
202 South Hill Terr |
10 Feb 2005 |
|
-- |
0.218 |
207 South Hill Terr |
07 Jul 2005 |
|
-- |
0.218 |
507 Turner Pl |
21 Apr 2005 |
|
-- |
0.82 |
508 Turner Pl |
25 Jan 2005 |
|
-- |
0.218 |
509 Turner Pl |
30 Mar 2005 |
|
-- |
0.82 |
510 Turner Pl |
27 Jan 2005 |
|
-- |
0.218 |
601 Turner Pl |
24 Feb 2005 |
|
-- |
0.82 |
212 W Spencer St |
20 Jan 2005 |
Indoor III, Fall 2005 (3 detects out of 12 tests)
| Level |
Threshold |
Address |
Date |
|
3.17 |
0.218 |
203 South Hill Terr |
25 Oct 2005 |
|
2.29 |
0.218 |
411 Turner Pl |
26 Oct 2005 |
|
0.929 |
0.218 |
411 Turner Pl |
26 Oct 2005 |
|
-- |
0.218 |
103 E Spencer St |
12 Oct 2005 |
|
-- |
0.218 |
107 E Spencer St |
01 Nov 2005 |
|
-- |
0.218 |
131 E Spencer St |
16 Nov 2005 |
|
-- |
0.218 |
521 S Cayuga St |
01 Nov 2005 |
|
-- |
0.218 |
601 S Cayuga St |
18 Oct 2005 |
|
-- |
0.218 |
130 South Hill Terr |
12 Oct 2005 |
|
-- |
0.218 |
207 South Hill Terr |
18 Oct 2005 |
|
-- |
0.218 |
401 Turner Pl |
09 Nov 2005 |
|
-- |
0.218 |
502 Turner Pl |
19 Dec 2005 |
Indoor IV, Spring 2006 (12 detects out of 15 tests)
| Level |
Threshold |
Address |
Date |
|
1.58 |
0.218 |
214 South Hill Terr |
05 Jun 2006 |
|
0.765 |
0.218 |
203 Pleasant St |
18 Apr 2006 |
|
0.71 |
0.218 |
306 Turner Pl |
21 Feb 2006 |
|
0.655 |
0.218 |
unknown |
15 Mar 2006 |
|
0.601 |
0.218 |
107 E Spencer St |
22 Feb 2006 |
|
0.437 |
0.218 |
142 E Spencer St |
30 Mar 2006 |
|
0.437 |
0.218 |
108 Hillview Pl |
16 Mar 2006 |
|
0.382 |
0.218 |
107 E Spencer St |
21 Feb 2006 |
|
0.382 |
0.218 |
203 South Hill Terr |
01 Mar 2006 |
|
0.328 |
0.218 |
136-138 E Spencer St |
16 Mar 2006 |
|
0.273 |
0.218 |
139 E Spencer St |
28 Feb 2006 |
|
0.218 |
0.218 |
314 Turner Pl |
28 Feb 2006 |
|
-- |
0.218 |
131 E Spencer St |
11 Apr 2006 |
|
-- |
0.218 |
201 Pleasant St |
06 Apr 2006 |
|
-- |
0.218 |
403 Turner Pl |
05 Apr 2006 |
Indoor V, Fall 2006 (7 detects out of 9 tests)
| Level |
Threshold |
Address |
Date |
|
1.53 |
0.218 |
139 E Spencer St |
17 Oct 2006 |
|
1.37 |
0.218 |
310-312 Turner Pl |
10 Oct 2006 |
|
1.26 |
0.218 |
203 Pleasant St |
16 Nov 2006 |
|
1.04 |
0.218 |
203 Pleasant St |
15 Nov 2006 |
|
0.983 |
0.218 |
122 E Spencer St |
17 Oct 2006 |
|
0.601 |
0.218 |
121 E Spencer St |
04 Dec 2006 |
|
0.382 |
0.218 |
119 South Hill Terr |
06 Dec 2006 |
|
-- |
0.218 |
121 South Hill Terr |
14 Nov 2006 |
|
-- |
0.218 |
501 Turner Pl |
23 Jan 2007 |
These tables are available as an Adobe PDF document.
In December 2007 and January 2008, we received more news:
At the end of 2007, WSP released their lengthy "Supplemental Remedial Investigation Report" which shows high TCE levels all along the sewer lines - both the "NCR Sewer" and the lines running down from the EPT site. However, it appears that the results of tests performed last Fall by Emerson's consultants (WSP) have found elevated levels in the air. Their single-page "Update", released January 18, 2008, states:
In November 2007, indoor air testing was conducted in a number of structures and concurrent ambient air
samples were collected in the vicinity of the structures. The results of that sampling were unexpected;
trichloroethylene (TCE) and certain other VOCs were detected at elevated concentrations in the ambient
air samples above what EPT has previously found. This is the first time TCE has been detected at these
concentrations in ambient air samples since EPT began testing for ambient air in the fall of 2004.
| Emerson may try to explain this as just variability in testing - we know the tests vary a lot by location chosen and can vary from month-to-month. Preliminary results of tests performed by URS contractors on behalf of the DEC on a South Hill home are here. These results do NOT show TCE in the ambient air, but DO show considerable variation, both among the four sub-slab locations - all in the basement of the same home - and over the times at which the tests were performed. |  |
| Please click on the graph for a PDF with the numerical results and better resolution graphics. |
Emerson's "Update" now promises to:
Provide a work plan to assess the actual mass emission rates of target compounds from
vent stacks of selected mitigation systems and evaluate the potential for air impacts from
the operation of mitigation systems.
The toxins removed from under our homes by the sub-slab depressurization (SSD) systems EPT, ESC, and WSP have installed are being discharged into the air around our homes. Just where they go from there is not entirely clear. The number of neighbors' homes with higher toxins levels in the air in and around their home after their "mitigation" systems were installed is very troubling. We hope we'll all learn more, soon. Given the variations shown above in toxin levels by location and over time, we hope that the work plan for evaluating the stack emissions will address those possible variations by testing over extended periods of time and at many locations.