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The Alliance For A Clean Environment
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What our community needs from EPA



1. Test for DIOXIN in sites:

Where? Landfill and Lagoons, on-site soils, sediment/fish Given location of the site – on the flood plain We suspect there may be dioxin in sediment/fish We need it tested

Why? The site has been subject to incinerator combustion of chlorinated materials which produce dioxins - also scrubber wastes, ash, and fires

2. Test Local Wells

- Groundwater is BADLY CONTAMINATED
- ROD calls for cleanup to drinking water standards
- Vinyl Chloride – VERY MOBILE, VERY PERSISTENT – Does not break down
- Vinyl Chloride – One of the most mobile chemicals known
- Rain picks it up and moves it
- Rain infiltrates and carries it into the water supplies
- System of containment may not be perfect
- Chance wells are polluted – Can’t be ruled out – Test these wells
- EPA’s own contractor told EPA to test private wells – never happened
- Given this info, why no testing?
- EPA lacks the resolve to be effective – EPA did not take this site seriously
- Bedrock – Lots of cracks – VC and TCE sink
- Groundwater has been contaminated since the 1940’s
- Contamination of many decades of:
    a. Spills of Solvents such as TCE - Production and Solvent 1984 Big TCE spill by Occidental
    b. Releases from unlimited dumping in Landfills & Lagoons – Huge Vinyl Chloride levels in some on site wells
    c. Despite the companies Pump and Treat –
    Levels remain hundreds and thousands of times higher than
    Safe Drinking Water Standards
    d. Yet no testing of private wells – hundreds of homes using wells in the area of the plant – some very close
    e. NO certainly that all Toxic Materials are Confined to Site – Only Oxy’s word
3. Active Lagoons – 38,000 cubic yards of hazardous wastes in lagoons

- PVC waste - a lot of Vinyl Chloride and TCE
- Cover Highly Toxic Wastes on the site - Temporary Cover
- Equal Partners - Seat at the table to decide permanent solution
- Don’t want hazardous material recycled or burned


What our community needs from Occidental

Responsible commitment for community/employees

- Occidental has emitted over 1 and ½ million lbs. of vinyl chloride into our air every year since 1988 - Over 100,000 lbs. of vinyl chloride every year.
- We don’t want out children to grow up breathing those kinds of emissions. We’ve had enough! We want ZERO vinyl chloride emissions
- We just don’t want to breathe this stuff.
- There are companies working toward Zero Hazardous emissions –
- Oxy is using stone age technology –
- This is a MAJOR CORPORATION with resources to find technical solutions For ZERO EMISSIONS.
- We want a commitment to a 5-year plan to eliminate VC & Dioxin emissions - Transition to a safer plastic product


What our community needs from DEP

Consider cumulative and synergistic effects from each site as well as the entire region when determining safe levels of hazardous emissions into our air and water.
- 1996 – Big meeting EPA, DEP - Discussed Multi Media Approach at Oxy
- Look at ALL RELEASES Covering all release avenues

This never happened – DEP is still deciding on safe levels of highly carcinogenic vinyl chloride from one source at a time from Oxy Air releases from Superfund wastes were never even evaluated in the original Superfund evaluation and still are not considered Dioxin has been ignored completely by DEP and EPA.

- Moratorium on any new permits to pollute
- Support Mission Statement and PA Constitution Article 27








ACE
P.O. Box 3063
Stowe, PA 19464
ace@acereport.org





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