In an I.B.M. Village, Fears of Air and Water Pollution

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New York
NEW YORK TIMES
In an I.B.M. Village, Fears of Air and Water Pollution
By Samme Chittum
Published: March 15, 2004

ENDICOTT, N.Y. - This village, best known as the birthplace of I.B.M.,
has an unusual look these days. Venting systems, with white plastic
tubing that runs from basements to roofs, sprout from 377 houses and
businesses.

Many houses are for sale, but there are few buyers.

"This area is taboo now," said Tim Davis, who lives on Monroe Avenue.
"And it's going to stay that way."

Mr. Davis lives in what residents call "the plume" - 320 acres
encompassing the downtown and stretching across the village, all of
which were polluted by industrial toxic substances. The chemicals
contaminated soil and leached into groundwater. And they continue to
produce vapors that waft into hundreds of basements.

Occurring over decades, the pollution is traceable at least in part to
I.B.M., which used common solvents in its circuit board assembly.

The venting systems were all paid for by I.B.M., which two decades ago
employed 12,000 workers in Endicott, just west of Binghamton. Now 1,700
collect I.B.M. paychecks here. Still, residents say they feel trapped in
virtually unsalable homes, where they fear the prolonged effects of the
vapors on the health of their families.

"Your house acts as a kind of chimney" for the vapors, which have tested
positive for the contaminant trichloroethene, or TCE, said Alan
Turnbull, 69, who in 2002 created the Residents Action Group of
Endicott, also known as R.A.G.E., after his wife, Donna Turnbull, 57,
was found to have throat cancer. Ms. Turnbull does not smoke, and she
used to exercise regularly in her finished basement. Now, she rarely
ventures down the basement stairs.

That the TCE found in Endicott, a suspected carcinogen, has been
measured at very low levels is scant comfort to those worried about more
than two decades of exposure. "Oh, sure, we're scared to death," said
Ms. Turnbull, who has lived in her Cleveland Avenue home for 21 years.
"We know the chemicals are dangerous, but we don't know how dangerous or
the long-term effects."

Results of air quality tests from homes in 2002 prompted the state
environmental officials to announce in January that the Endicott
pollution was more serious than previously believed.

The State Department of Environmental Conservation said it would upgrade
Endicott's status from Class 4 - meaning that the pollution source is no
longer a problem, but is still being monitored - to Class 2 - a
significant threat to the environment or health. The reclassification,
backed by United States Representative Maurice Hinchey, a Democrat who
represents the area, was a victory for citizen groups.

Despite the change, state health officials cannot say whether air or
water pollution in Endicott has actually caused any health problems.

Village officials say tests show that the water is safe to drink.

And the venting systems are effective, according to Michael Fraser, a
spokesman for the Department of Environmental Conservation.

Still, many residents remain pessimistic.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/15/nyregion/15endicott.html