{"id":5905,"date":"2013-10-06T18:59:44","date_gmt":"2013-10-06T22:59:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?p=5905"},"modified":"2013-10-06T19:09:52","modified_gmt":"2013-10-06T23:09:52","slug":"csx-groundwater-contamination-in-waycross","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2013\/10\/csx-groundwater-contamination-in-waycross.html","title":{"rendered":"CSX groundwater contamination in Waycross"},"content":{"rendered":"

\r\nThe MCLG for
trichloroethylene
is zero.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\nAround the \r\nSeven Out and CSX contamination areas in Waycross more than 100 people\r\nhave gotten sick or died,\r\nmost since 2000, with groundwater contamination\r\nknown since 1985, according to Joan Martin McNeal, \r\nSo the CSX problem long predates\r\n\r\nthe Seven Out problem<\/a>.\r\nHere’s her map of the CSX property (in yellow) and contamination, sickness, and death:\r\n\r\n

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\n
\r\nbrown stars: known contamination areas\r\n
\r\nred markers: confirmed deceased or confirmed cases of severe illness\r\nmostly cancer (bone, lung, prostate, blood, colon, breast),\r\nsome severe neurological disorders, some heart failure,\r\nwith ages ranging from 4 to 85 years.\r\n
\r\ngreen markers: likely early stage cases of such problems\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nAccording to this February 2000\r\n<\/a>\r\n\r\ntricholoroethylene isopleth map<\/a>,\r\n\r\nthere was already extensive contamination in the CSX railyard by 2000,\r\nextending across an internal drainage ditch that goes into the\r\nWaycross Canal that become Tebeau Creek, running through downtown\r\nWaycross into the Satilla River.\r\n

\r\n\r\nAccording to U.S. EPA,\r\n\r\nTrichloroethylene 79-01-6 Hazard Summary-Created in April 1992; Revised in January 2000<\/a>,\r\n

\r\n

\r\n\r\nAcute (short-term) and chronic (long-term) inhalation exposure to\r\ntrichloroethylene can affect the human central nervous system (CNS),\r\nwith symptoms such as dizziness, headaches, confusion, euphoria,\r\nfacial numbness, and weakness. Liver, kidney, immunological,\r\nendocrine, and developmental effects have also been reported in\r\nhumans. A recent analysis of available epidemiological studies\r\nreports trichloroethylene exposure to be associated with several\r\ntypes of cancers in humans, especially kidney, liver, cervix, and\r\nlymphatic system. Animal studies have reported increases in lung,\r\nliver, kidney, and testicular tumors and lymphoma.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\nAccording to U.S. EPA’s\r\n\r\nBasic Information about Trichloroethylene in Drinking Water<\/a>,\r\n

\r\n

\r\nWhat are EPA’s drinking water regulations for trichloroethylene?\r\n<\/H4>\r\n

\r\nIn 1974, Congress passed the Safe Drinking Water Act. This law\r\nrequires EPA to determine the level of contaminants in drinking\r\nwater at which no adverse health effects are likely to occur. These\r\nnon-enforceable health goals, based solely on possible health risks\r\nand exposure over a lifetime with an adequate margin of safety, are\r\ncalled maximum contaminant level goals (MCLG). Contaminants are any\r\nphysical, chemical, biological or radiological substances or matter\r\nin water.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nThe MCLG for trichloroethylene is zero.\r\nEPA has set this level of\r\nprotection based on the best available science to prevent potential\r\nhealth problems. EPA has set an enforceable regulation for\r\ntrichloroethylene, called a maximum contaminant level (MCL), at\r\n0.005 mg\/L or 5 ppb. MCLs are set as close to the health goals as\r\npossible, considering cost, benefits and the ability of public water\r\nsystems to detect and remove contaminants using suitable treatment\r\ntechnologies.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\nI don’t know how far back this problem goes, or exactly where\r\nor who it has affected.\r\nIt’s not clear anybody else does yet, either.\r\nBut I do know there’s a problem.\r\n

\r\nIf you have been affected, here’s\r\n\r\na survey you can fill out<\/a>\r\nto help collect information to better determine the affected area.\r\n

\r\n -jsq\r\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The MCLG for trichloroethylene is zero. Around the Seven Out and CSX contamination areas in Waycross more than 100 people have gotten sick or died, most since 2000, with groundwater contamination known since 1985, according to Joan Martin McNeal, So the CSX problem long predates the Seven Out problem. Here’s her map of the CSX […]","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[50,2,41,32,73,55],"tags":[210,2010,1545,3212,8722,2710,292,8701,8699,8718,7019,8702,12,6918,8715,8731,7022,6917,6919,6916,7020,7023,2376,8727,2597,7021],"class_list":["post-5905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-epa","category-government","category-health-care","category-pollution","category-safety","category-water","tag-aquifer","tag-cancer","tag-csx","tag-death","tag-epa","tag-food","tag-ga-epd","tag-georgia","tag-government","tag-health-care","tag-joan-martin-mcneal","tag-lake","tag-lowndes-area-knowledge-exchange","tag-mary-street","tag-pollution","tag-safety","tag-satilla-river","tag-seven-out","tag-sickness","tag-superfund","tag-tebeau-creek","tag-trichloroethylene","tag-ware-county","tag-water","tag-waycross","tag-waycross-canal"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p585fK-1xf","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5905"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5905\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5915,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5905\/revisions\/5915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}