2015 CPEO Brownfields List Archive

From: Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2015 22:48:05 -0800 (PST)
Reply: cpeo-brownfields
Subject: [CPEO-BIF] A Stakeholder's Guide to Vapor Intrusion: Update
 

A Stakeholder's Guide to Vapor Intrusion: Update

http://www.cpeo.org/pubs/SGVIU.html

By Lenny Siegel

November, 2015

 

The specter of unseen toxic vapors - capable of causing cancer, birth defects, or neurological disease - intruding into our homes, schools, and workplaces is enough to scare anyone. The vapor intrusion pathway, a national concern for at least a dozen years, poses a threat to the health of building occupants; it may undermine property values; and it can throw a wrench into plans for new construction. However, the health and economic risks of vapor intrusion can be managed. To ensure they are addressed properly, the people whose lives may be impacted need to understand how vapor intrusion is investigated and mitigated.

 

Vapor intrusion refers to the migration of toxic vapors from the subsurface—that is, soil or groundwater—into overlying buildings. Though many substances, such as petroleum hydrocarbons and even elemental mercury, can intrude into buildings, sites that require a response usually contain chlorinated solvents—that is, chlorine-containing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetracholoroethylene (also known as perchloroethylene or PCE). TCE was widely used as a solvent in industries such as aerospace and electronics, but in recent years a relatively small number of businesses, primarily in metals processing, have continued to use it. It is still found in consumer products such as gun cleaner and plastic cement. PCE is still widely used in dry-cleaning and automotive servicing in much of the country. Toxic compounds found in petroleum products, such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX), and trimethylbenzene may also pose a vapor intrusion risk, but petroleum vapor intrusion is uncommon because at many sites these compounds degrade near the ground surface as they come into contact with atmospheric oxygen.

While individual scientists and some states, such as Massachusetts and Colorado, have been addressing vapor intrusion since the 1990s, vapor intrusion started to become a standard part of contaminated-site response in 2001, when U.S. EPA’s Resource Conservation and Recovery Act program stipulated such an assessment for all Environmental Indicator human health decisions. In early 2002, the Denver Post brought national attention to the problem with a landmark series on vapor intrusion. Since then many environmental regulatory agencies across the country have developed technical and policy guidance for investigating and mitigating toxic gas vapors. As researchers and regulators learn more about how vapor intrusion manifests in the real world of homes, businesses, schools, and other buildings, new strategies for vapor response are continuously rising to the surface. U.S. EPA promulgated its long-awaited vapor intrusion Technical Guides in June of this year, reflecting the latest in vapor intrusion science and policy. You can download the OSWER Technical Guide for Assessing and Mitigating the Vapor Intrusion Pathway from Subsurface Vapor Sources to Indoor Air from http://www.epa.gov/oswer/vaporintrusion/guidance.html#EO12866OSWERVI.  

 Vapor intrusion responses are often major local news stories. But many Americans who are potentially exposed via the vapor intrusion pathway do not know about it, and many who know about it do not understand the many complexities involved in assessing and responding to vapor intrusion. Indeed, many people leave public meetings on local vapor intrusion investigations confused. But the average person is capable of understanding the basics of vapor intrusion, and this guide is designed to give people enough information to engage constructively in decisions that affect their health, their families, and their property.

 At the Center for Public Environmental Oversight, we believe that such engagement is the number one factor in determining whether people get the protection they need. The polluters responsible for cleanup as well as the government agencies whose jobs it is to defend the environment are more likely to address public concerns if community members learn about technologies and policies and come to the table collectively to provide advice and insist upon results. Furthermore, vapor intrusion responses usually require the cooperation and even the permission of building owners and occupants. This guide is intended to serve as an introduction - Vapor Intrusion 101 - to community stakeholders, including residents and other property owners, other building occupants, local officials, and developers.

 Go to http://www.cpeo.org/pubs/SGVIU.html for a link to the main, 42.7 MB, 27-page report and ten, smaller sidebar reports. This is CPEO's first web-based publication, and in testing it we have found that some of the links are not "clickable" on some browsers. If you find that the case, just copy and paste the link.

 

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918

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