Base receives PCB questions
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No Comments [ Add Comment ]By Kelli Palmer-Stephens
Standard-Examiner staff
H
ill Air Force Base will begin conducting a second round of testing today to determine if the substance found in the soil under base housing is a serious threat to public health, officials said.
Medical and environmental experts were available Tuesday during the open-house meeting at the Hill Golf Course Club House to answer questions about the contaminant polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, and if levels are high enough to pose a serious health threat.
Three homes out of 100 sampled on base were found with PCBs after construction crews were testing for pesticides in the area, said Mark Loucks Restoration Operations Programs manager.
"We know that there's a potential situation, but that's about it," Loucks said.
PCBs have been shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals, but it is unknown if it causes cancer in humans, said Lt. Col. Darrin Curtis, bioenvironmental engineering flight commander for the base. However, exposure to high levels over a period of time could cause liver damage, skin rashes or neurological problems in unborn children.
Staff Sgt. Scott Kio and his wife, Amanda Kio, attended the meeting with their 2-year-old daughter, Lynzie, who was recently diagnosed with neuroblastoma cancer. They lived on base around 2004 for 13 months, Amanda said.
"I have no idea if there is a link (between cancer and PCBs)," she said. "But no other family should have to go through this, and I think the right steps are being taken," she said referring to the meeting.
Today, the base will begin an aggressive sampling program to determine where the PCBs originate, Louck said, sampling the soil where kids most likely play.
He said the process will be interactive among residents. Each were given flags to place in their front yard if they want their property sampled.
Jessica Leonard and her family of four live on base and just recently received a letter about the contamination, she said. The letter was a possible explanation of some health problems her family has experienced since living on the base.
"When I received this letter, it was a heart attack to me," Leonard said.
In December, her 3-year-old son, Jayden, was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and Leonard said she had unexplained jaundice, which is a symptom of liver disease.
"There's toxicity in the home I live in, and it's worth investigating," Leonard said, as she lives across the street from one of the three homes found contaminated.
Leonard feels the meeting eased some of her fears and answered some important questions.
The base is in the process of determining the scope of the problem and the number of individuals involved, Curtis said.
At the meeting experts were telling residents not to panic, as they're still in the process of getting more information.
"We're putting out as much information as we can to alleviate excess anxiety," Curtis said. "Even if we don't have answers tonight, we are listening to problems."
Another meeting will be held in four to six weeks to review data from the samples, Curtis said. In the meantime results will be communicated to concerned residents.
Dr. Scott Philip, a toxicologist from University of Colorado, said the biggest hazard is ingestion of PCBs.
He said to make sure kids aren't eating the dirt, and to wash their hands when they're finished playing in it.
If high levels of PCBs are found elsewhere, immediate cleanup action will take place by removing the soil altogether, Loucks said.
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