TCE contamination that plagues Ithaca New York's South Hill was first detected in 1972

May 7, 2008 - The TCE contamination that plagues Ithaca's South Hill was first detected in 1972, 15 years earlier than previously believed.

Confidential inter-office memos between Morse Chain executives from more than 30 years ago show that staff became aware of a degreaser leak that fed oil and trichloroethylene into the factory's fire water reservoir in August 1972.

Staff reviewed their options, including an “alternative ... to let things go as is.”

The memos were evidence in litigation brought by Emerson Electric Co. against BorgWarner roughly 20 years ago and were never previously reported.

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