Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2008

Forums to cover toxins at AVX

DHEC to discuss contamination of neighborhood

The state's Department of Health and Environmental Control will meet next week with Myrtle Beach residents to discuss toxic contamination in the groundwater near electronics manufacturer AVX Corp.'s facility, the agency said Wednesday.

The community forums will happen more than a year after DHEC first learned that trichloroethylene, an industrial degreaser, had spread beyond AVX's property on 17th Avenue South.

AVX knew about trichloroethylene, or TCE, contamination at its site since at least 1981, although the manufacturer didn't tell DHEC about the problem until 1995.

DHEC did not inform local leaders or adjacent property owners about the TCE contamination until after The Sun News reported on the issue over the past month. AVX has not publicly acknowledged the contamination.

Next week's meetings will be a chance for DHEC to share information about recent environmental tests and plans the agency has to clean up property that has been contaminated by TCE, which AVX used in the 1970s through the early 1990s.

DHEC says the TCE has migrated from the AVX site through groundwater in a roughly 10-block neighborhood near the manufacturer.

TCE has been linked with cancer and other health problems, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

An AVX spokesman has told residents the contamination is no threat to their health.

DHEC's announcement comes as more environmentalists are calling for tests to see whether TCE vapors are seeping through soil and into homes and businesses near AVX.

"TCE is bad news," said Lawrence Mattila, a geologist who has worked on cleanup at the former Myrtle Beach Air Force Base.

Mattila said TCE breaks down into more toxic chemicals, such as vinyl chloride, the longer it sits in groundwater.

"You have to be very clever about getting rid of it," he said.

Mattila said a layer of clay that exists below much of the groundwater in Myrtle Beach lets TCE, which is heavier than water, collect in pools that can take decades to clean up.

When that happens, he said, TCE vapors can seep through the soil and into buildings above the contamination.

"The vapors might not be there because they dissipate quickly [when they hit the air]," Mattila said. "But if there is any reason to suspect there are vapors, you need to make sure."

Lenny Siegel, an EPA consultant and TCE expert, said vapor intrusion into buildings is the most common way people are exposed to the toxic chemical. That is especially true, Siegel said, if the contamination is located in the shallowest aquifer, as it is in Myrtle Beach.

DHEC, in a news release Wednesday, said it "is currently working with AVX to address any potential air issues that could result from contamination."

DHEC plans to test air samples in the contaminated area to see if vapor intrusion could be a problem. Those test results will be made public when they become available, the agency said.

Some of the highest TCE readings in groundwater tests earlier this year were on vacant wooded property, DHEC said.

For example, groundwater under the vacant property across from AVX on 17th Avenue South had TCE levels of 19,200 parts per billion. The federal government has set the maximum safe level at five parts per billion.

Other tests showed high levels of TCE near homes, particularly along 13th Avenue South. TCE levels as high as 40.5 parts per billion were detected as far as Seventh Avenue South.

The contamination does not affect drinking water in the area because the city does not use groundwater as a source for its public water system.

A pair of lawsuits have been filed against AVX because of the contamination.

Gene Connell, a Surfside Beach lawyer, filed a class-action lawsuit last week on behalf of all property owners who have groundwater contaminated by TCE that migrated from the AVX site. Connell said that property is worthless because residents can't sell their homes as long as the contamination exists. Connell said he wants AVX to pay those landowners what their property would be worth without the contamination.

Horry Land Co., which owns contaminated land across the street from AVX, filed a lawsuit last month seeking $5.4 million from the manufacturer.

AVX is paying for new environmental tests in the 10-block area where contamination has been found. The manufacturer will have to pay for cleanup at all sites it has contaminated, according to DHEC.