Whisman station is safe, says EPA Whisman station is safe, says EPA (January 28, 2005)

Some residents still concerned

By Jon Wiener

Chemicals in the ground water and soil are not seeping into Whisman Station homes, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Defense contractor GTE, which polluted the site, hired a consultant to conduct a yearlong search for toxic gas in the homes. The investigation sampled more than 40 homes in the development that were deemed to be most vulnerable to contamination, though several other homeowners refused to participate.

Testing found levels considered unsafe by the EPA in three homes. In two of those homes, scientists blamed common household products for the positive test results. At a third, the company paid to install a below-ground ventilation the system that it says has eliminated the problem.

"Nobody is being exposed to non-health-protective levels of TCE," said EPA project manager John Moody.

The EPA presented a draft of the company's final report at a meeting of the Northeast Mountain View Advisory Council (NMAC) last week. A host of residents, regulators and consultants attended the meeting.

"I feel much better now than I did when I first heard about this [potential for contamination]," said Whisman Station resident and NMAC board member Ed Schlosser. Several others in the audience echoed that sentiment.

But the meeting was not without some controversy. The TCE remains prevalent in the ground water beneath the homes, causing concern that aging foundations or an earthquake could lead to more indoor contamination.

Steven Hochstadt, another board member, attacked the EPA for making too much of the results.

"We can't sit here today and say we don't need any more monitoring," said Hochstadt. The level of pollution "is still very high for these homes to be sitting on top of."

The NMAC, the city of Mountain View and several Whisman Station homeowners associations will be reviewing the report in more detail. The EPA will incorporate their comments into its recommendations on the need for future testing.

E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com

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