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EPA Begins Study of TCE Contaminants at Carter Carburetor Site

Release Date: 09/09/2008
Contact Information: David Bryan, 913-551-7433, [email protected]

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Environmental News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Kansas City, Kan., Sept. 9, 2008) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 7 will begin a vapor intrusion study today at the Carter Carburetor Corporation site, 2000-2840 N. Spring St., in St. Louis to determine if trichloroethylene (TCE) vapors are present beneath the floor of the building. EPA's Mobile Lab, staffed by EPA contractors, will be on site for approximately two weeks collecting samples.

The testing should help EPA determine if there is a potential for these vapors to intrude and accumulate in this building or any future development on the site. The information will also be needed to make decisions as to the type of cleanup that will be needed, if any.

The Carter Carburetor site is a former carburetor manufacturing plant. Gasoline and diesel powered carburetors were made at the site from the 1930s until 1984, when the plant was closed. EPA site investigations found unacceptable levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the building and some areas outside the buildings. ACF Industries demolished and disposed of three smaller buildings where PCBs were used in the manufacturing process.

ACF Industries discovered TCE contamination in the subsurface while conducting an engineering evaluation and cost analysis under EPA oversight at the site. EPA's sampling is a follow-up to that discovery. TCE can form vapors which can travel through the soil and enter buildings through cracks or other openings in the floor.

Documents regarding the Carter Carburetor site are available for review at the Herbert Hoover Boys and Girls Club, 2901 N. Grand in St. Louis or at the EPA Region 7 Record Center, 901 N. 5th Street, Kansas City, Kan.