Wednesday, August 15, 2007

California neighborhood alarmed by notice of state investigation

August 15, 2007 - MariaJean Garcia says you'd be jittery, too, opening a notice with the words "toxic" and "cleanup" — and an address half a block from your home — in the same paragraph.

That's the mail Garcia and her neighbors received late last week, days before the state's Department of Toxic Substances Control launches an investigation today of potential contamination in the parking lot outside the Marshall Steel Cleaners at Redwood Road and Village Drive.

Don't be surprised to see workers in safety suits outside the Sorani shopping plaza, drilling test bores in the pavement for soil, water and gas samples. Traffic may be diverted, and parking may be limited.

Groundwater, sampled from sites downgrade from the cleaners, contained perchloroethylene, better known as "perc." The state Air Resources Board is phasing out use of "perc," the main solvent used in dry cleaning, which can cause irritation of the eyes, nose, throat or skin.

More . . .

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