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Groundwater Home The Site Resident Concerns Repository Photos West of Fourth More Information | Resident Concerns Indoor AirPSC has taken samples of indoor air from several homes located near the groundwater plume. These samples have been analyzed to determine if any of the chemicals in the groundwater are affecting people living in the area. Low levels of some VOCs have been detected in indoor air in some of the homes. The amounts of VOCs are low enough so that no one is in immediate danger, but are high enough so that PSC must take action to eliminate the exposure. PSC has installed a venting system in several of the homes and businesses where VOCs were detected at potentially unacceptable levels. This system — made up of a fan and PVC piping — was installed so that the VOCs are sucked from under the structure and vented up through the roof. If PSC or DOE has contacted you about having a ventilation system installed in your home or business, we encourage you to respond. These measures are intended to protect your health and safety. In addition to PSC’s efforts at mitigation of vapor intruaion, the Washington State Department of Health (“DOH”) has released two Health Consultations regarding indoor air in Georgetown. The 2002 health consultation summarizes DOH's evaluation of indoor air studies conducted at homes and businesses located near the Philip Services Corporation (PSC) facility in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle, King County, Washington. The evaluation was conducted to determine whether residents and workers, who are located in the vicinity of the PSC site, are being exposed to hazardous chemicals released into soil and groundwater. Of primary concern is the potential for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to move from contaminated groundwater into indoor air. The soil to indoor air pathway was also evaluated for those buildings located immediately west of the PSC facility, where elevated levels of soil contaminants have been detected or potentially exist. DOH conducts health consultations under a cooperative agreement with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). Read the full Consultation. In 2005, DOH conducted another health consultation at the request of a residential property owner whose property is underlain by a plume of contaminated groundwater associated with the former PSC Georgetown facility. The purpose of the health consultation was to evaluate whether the chemicals found in the shallow groundwater below the property posed an indoor air health concern to occupants of the residence. DOH prepares health consultations under a cooperative agreement with the ATSDR. Read the 2005 Consultation. Fruit Trees Ecology is aware of a study conducted in Utah where trichloroethene (TCE) has contaminated groundwater and was shown to affect a small percentage of fruit growing on mature trees over the contaminated groundwater. Because groundwater in parts of Georgetown contains TCE, Ecology wanted to make you aware of this information. Ecology is not recommending that people avoid eating tree fruit grown in Georgetown. Utah State University conducted the study in Utah where TCE has contaminated groundwater under a residential area. Researchers there determined that TCE affected a small percentage of fruit – at low levels – that grew on mature trees located over the contaminated groundwater. (The study also examined vegetables, but scientists detected no TCE.) Of hundreds of pieces of tree fruit sampled in the study, less than two percent contained detectable levels of TCE. Fruit that contained TCE was not considered to pose an unacceptable health risk even when the groundwater contained relatively high concentrations of TCE, and the tree was large enough to have roots reaching the water table. Ecology provided this information to property owners and tenants in the “affected area” associated with the Philip Services Corporation (PSC)-Georgetown site in 2005, because TCE is one of the primary contaminants of concern in shallow groundwater. The “affected area” is the area west and south of Denver Avenue, encompassing residential, industrial, and commercial properties roughly between South Brandon Street to the north and addresses in the 5900 block of East Marginal Way South to the south (please refer to Figure 1 in the attached document). Most of the shallow groundwater in this “affected area” contains low or non-detectable concentrations of TCE. In most cases, TCE concentrations in groundwater found below those trees in Utah where the fruit had detectable levels of TCE were higher than those found in Georgetown. This leads Ecology to believe that if any TCE exists in fruit grown on trees here, it would be at low concentrations. Therefore, after consulting with the Washington State Department of Health, Ecology is not recommending that you avoid eating fruit from trees in the “affected area.” Nor is Ecology asking PSC or other parties to sample and analyze Georgetown fruit at this time. Ecology simply wants you to be aware that information about tree fruit and contaminated groundwater suggests the possibility that TCE, a hazardous substance, can move from contaminated groundwater into a tree’s fruit. The attached document provides more information on this topic, as well as contact names and phone numbers if you have questions. It also contains a figure, showing you where the highest levels of TCE in shallow groundwater have been found in the “affected area.” Residential properties where the groundwater levels of TCE are highest have been visited by Ecology staff in order to give residents an opportunity to ask, face-to-face, any questions they have about the information from the Utah study and what implications it could have for fruit grown in Seattle. Ecology will continue to evaluate information on this topic as it becomes available and will respond accordingly.
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