Harmful Chemical Seeps into Homes in Mountain View, EPA says

The Environmental Protection Agency recently sent updated newsletters to households in the Wagon Wheel neighborhood about high levels of trichloroethene (TCE) that could be harmful to their health.

This latest notice dated March 2013 was mailed to 2,500 households, compared to the handful of households that received the December 2012 note distributed by hand, according to EPA spokesman David Yogi. He said this larger effort was at the behest of the Wagon Wheel neighborhood association after a March 3 meeting.

For the new homes that received the notice and aren't near the "hot spots," the EPA suggests that they shouldn't worry. "Because there wasn't much concentration there, they should be less concerned," said Yogi.

Between November 2012 and February 2013 the EPA conducted groundwater testing along Evandale Avenue and Devonshire Avenue and found "two hot spots" with concentrated, high levels of chemical TCE (trichloroethene) primarily on Evandale Avenue. TCE can rise from the groundwater into the air through a process called vapor intrusion.

TCE can affect the human central nervous system and long-term exposure can cause cancers in humans, especially kidney, liver, cervix, and lymphatic system, according to the EPA.

"I'm not too worried, but it's worth knowing about," said Sonia Rao, a homeowner on East Middlefield Avenue who provided a copy of the letter to Patch, which she received for the first time on Wednesday. "I live a little further away, but I walk my dog there and I’m pregnant, too."

The area being tested is part of the Middlefield-Ellis-Whisman (MEW) Superfund site, which decades ago housed several manufacturing and industrial facilities. These companies used chemicals like TCE on metals.

According to the EPA "in 1981 and 1982, investigations in the area of these facilities indicated that significant levels of contaminants had been released to the soil and groundwater."

However residents along Evandale Avenue are worried, Theresa Larrieu told NBC Area News in February. She knew that Moffett Field across Highway 101 had been designated a Superfund site, but now Larrieu's directly impacted.

The EPA and the MEW Superfund responsible parties will continue to work with homeowners and tenants to lower the TCE indoor air levels.

Are you concerned by the EPA findings? Are you worried about your health and your property? Tell us in comments.

More on Mountain View Patch:

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• Hundreds of Weapons Collected in County Gun Buyback Program
• Sequestration Expected to Impact Moffett Field Commissary
• NASA Pollution Monitoring Aircraft to Fly Over Bay Area Skies

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