As vapor intrusion concerns emerge, EPA tests Lansing homes

Federal environmental officials tested the air quality in six Lansing homes Wednesday to determine whether harmful contaminants from an old industrial complex are seeping out of the ground at those locations.

A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency spokesperson said the agency will continue testing to determine whether what is commonly called vapor intrusion is occurring at the homes surrounding the former Adams Plating Co. at 521 Rosemary Street.

The site is one of thousands in Michigan that has the potential to leak dangerous vapors that have long lain dormant in soil and ground water. State and local officials said they don't know how many of those sites are located in the Lansing area.

A Clinton County health official said he's increased communication with the state on this "emerging issue."

“We are absolutely convinced that we are going to have cases in the future,” said Marcus Cheatham, health officer for the Mid-Michigan District Health Department, which includes Clinton, Gratiot and Montcalm counties.

The DEQ has estimated about 4,000 sites in Michigan have the potential for vapor intrusion — a process where chemicals that were spilled or leaked into the ground evaporate and enter the building, nearby buildings or new construction on the site, said Michael McClellan, chief of staff to the DEQ’s environment deputy director. Those vapors can enter a structure through cracks in cement, utility lines or pumps.

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The 4,000 potential sites were identified by the DEQ because of their histories as dry cleaning facilities, old gas stations that may have had underground storage containers or former manufacturing facilities, McClellan said.

“Those are kind of our best guess in having a handle on the universe that may be out there,” McClellan said.

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has requested an additional $2.6 million in its fiscal year 2018 budget to identify concern areas and address issues.The problem isn’t new, McLellan said, but more precise testing and recent decreases in toxicity levels by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have prompted officials to become more aggressive in evaluating and mitigating sites.

“We know that these vapors can create public health effects at lower levels than we previously thought and these effects can happen in a quicker time frame,” McClellan said.

The DEQ is actively involved in about 50 vapor intrusion cases, said public information officer Melody Kindraka.

“That number changes on a daily basis as sites get cleaned up or new sites get identified,” Kindraka said. Many of those are located in the Detroit and Grand Rapids areas.

As recently as last week, Kindraka said none the active sites were located in Ingham, Eaton or Clinton counties. But by Wednesday the EPA confirmed testing for a possible vapor intrusion near Adams Plating Co.

The site of the company has been on the radar of state and federal environmental officials since 1980, when a nearby homeowner discovered green water in the home's basement. Other solvents were found in soil and groundwater and the basement water was traced to chromium from Adams Plating, which worked with chrome, nickel and copper electroplating. Basements were pumped out in the 1980s, and 7,000 cubic yards of tainted soil was removed in 1994. Plans were put in place to monitor groundwater there for 30 years.

Major cleanup at the site resumed in 2011, a few months after the business was destroyed in a chemical fire. The business was known to have used cyanide, hexavalant chromium, and nickel.

An EPA spokesperson said the agency's most recent testing at the site is to determine whether any additional cleanup needs to be done there to address vapor intrusion or other contamination issues. Officials expect to continue sampling next week and have a determination in late March.

Other sites in the Lansing region have had better luck at addressing the possibility for vapor intrusion.

One East Lansing site, St. Anne Lofts, was listed on the DEQ website as a “vapor intrusion success story.”

The site near the corner of Grove Street and Albert Avenue was used as a dry cleaner between 1962 and 1975, according to a project report, and chlorinated solvents were found in soil and groundwater in 2010 and 2011.

Because of that contamination, developers were required to mitigate the risk for vapor intrusion before construction, said Tim Dempsey, director for East Lansing planning, building and development. The project was awarded a $1 million Brownfield Redevelopment Grant in 2011.

“There was a significant amount of soil removal from the site as well as ground water removal,” Dempsey said. “Then they installed a gas vapor mitigation system that’s a permanent part of that building now.”

Cheatham said, in the case of a confirmed vapor intrusion, local health departments would help the DEQ to communicate the risks of vapor intrusion to the community.

“It’s a pervasive issue across the state but we don’t have enough information on it,” Cheatham said. “They don’t have enough people to put to work on it.”

McClellan said the extra money in the DEQ’s fiscal year 2018 budget will help the department to buy additional sampling equipment, hire more personnel to identify vapor intrusion sites and hire contractors to work on mitigation programs.

McClellan said cleanup at “orphan sites” — where there is no liable party — will come at a cost to the department. At other sites, contamination issues and their causes are identified through a baseline environmental assessment when the property changes hands.

Contact Reporter Beth LeBlanc at 517-377-1167 or eleblanc@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @LSJBethLeBlanc.