Center for Public Environmental Oversight  [Printer-friendly version]
November 4, 2006

ADVANCING PRECAUTION IN GEORGIA: MICAH'S MISSION

[Rachel's introduction: "In Georgia, government officials continue to
calculate and approve allowable levels of pollution, even for
substances such as TCE that probably cause cancer and numerous other
serious health impacts. But community activists have taken the
precautionary principle into their own hands, and they are on the
verge of success."]

By Lenny Siegel lsiegel@cpeo.org

[To download the following article as a 3-page, 1 MB formatted DOC
file with photos, go to http://www.cpeo.org/pubs/Athens.doc.]

On September 23, 2006 I visited Athens, Georgia. My host was Jill
McElheney, founder of Micah's Mission, a faith-based ministry to
improve childhood and adolescent health. McElheney began her work
several years ago when her son Jarrett, now 12, was diagnosed with
acute lymphocytic leukemia. Jarrett has recovered, but his mother has
continued her children's environmental health mission throughout
northeast Georgia. She has worked closely with some of the residents
of Pittard Road, a street in Winterville with above average incidences
of cancer.

McElheney has been monitoring potential vapor intrusion sites in her
area. She drove me through her former neigborhood, where her son was
diagnosed with cancer. It is now an under-construction housing
development, where new homes are being built above a carbon
tetrachloride plume. The contamination appears to emanate from a
nearby grain elevator site or an adjacent petroleum pipeline facility.
The chemical had been used as a fumigant and metal degreaser. She had
contacted the state environmental protection division because she knew
of no special attention being given to protect future residents from
carbon tet vapors. The state is now working with the developer on a
vapor barrier plan.

But the main focus of my visit was Nakanishi Manufacturing
Corporation's ball-bearing plant in Winterville. Nakanishi is not a
brownfield. There is no reported groundwater plume. But it is
Georgia's largest reported source of trichloroethylene (TCE)
emissions, accounting for almost half the state's total. In fact, it's
one of the top dozen TCE emitters in the country, releasing more than
100,000 pounds of the substance into the atmosphere each year. The
company uses TCE as a degreaser.

This site illustrates that communities are not just concerned about
vapor intrusion and indoor air. They care about exposures, wherever
they occur. Nakanishi's modern-looking facility is within a half mile
of Coile Middle School, the New Grove Baptist Church, a Baby Boutique
business, and a number of homes. The Pittard Road community is about a
mile away. Activists, concerned that TCE emissions might be
responsible for cancers and other diseases in the area, have
challenged Nakanishi's air permit application at public meetings,
petitioning all the way to the EPA Administrator in Washington, DC.
In September 2005 about 50 people marched in protest outside the
plant.

State officials approved the permit, concluding that TCE exposures
would not exceed the 5 microgram per cubic meter state standard, based
upon modeling. But McElheney and residents were not convinced. They
prevailed upon the nearby University of Georgia to collect actual air
samples, indoors and out. Under the direction of toxicology professor
Jeff Fisher, a nationally regarded TCE expert, university students
took samples throughout the area.

Fisher's students found that the average indoor air reading exceeded 1
microgram per cubic meter, and that the average outdoor level fell
just under 1 microgram per cubic meter. Peak findings, indoors and
out, approached 5 micrograms per cubic meter. While the results show
compliance with Georgia's air regulations, the ambient air
concentrations of TCE are among the highest in the U.S.

There is growing evidence that official standards, such as Georgia's 5
micrograms per cubic meter level, are not fully protective of
susceptible populations. And in much of the country, manufacturers
have eliminated their use of TCE. Nakanishi officials, however, have
contended that substitution was impractical.

Finally, though, in early November, Nakanishi sought state permission
to install machinery that uses an alternative solvent, Isopar L. If
the new technology meets production specifications, the company may
phase out its TCE use.

In Georgia, government officials continue to calculate and approve
allowable levels of pollution, even for substances such as TCE that
probably cause cancer and numerous other serious health impacts. But
community activists have taken the precautionary principle into their
own hands, and they are on the verge of success.

=============

Lenny Siegel is 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.