[CPEO-BIF] TCE in Belmont, Mass.

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Is Purecoat's cleanup a whitewash?

Column by Brian Iler
Belmont Citizen-Herald (MA)
December 10, 2004


Purecoat North, a.k.a. Cambridge Plating Company, is a metal plating
company that has operated at 39 Hittinger St. since 1968. In that time
they've released untold amounts of toxic chemicals into the soil,
groundwater and air.

There are currently two hazardous waste "cleanups" in progress at
Cambridge Plating Company. "Whitewashes" may be a more apt description.

The first whitewash involves a TCE (trichloroethylene) release first
reported in 1989. Purecoat North had been releasing this chemical
legally into the air (and continued to, until the end of 2003), but this
was a spill into the soil and groundwater.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services lists TCE as "probably
carcinogenic to humans." It stays in the soil a long time and can
migrate with groundwater. TCE, or the chemicals it breaks down into, can
penetrate a house's concrete foundation and its fumes can sicken the inhabitants.

...

For the entire column, see
http://www2.townonline.com/belmont/opinion/view.bg?articleid=141839

-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org
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