The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) has released its final public health assessment for the Lane Street Ground Water Contamination site in Elkhart, Indiana. The report finds that groundwater beneath some properties along Lane Street is contaminated with volatile organic compounds, including trichloroethylene (TCE). A draft of the report was available for public comment from March 14 through April 29, 2013.
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management and the Elkhart County Health Department found the contamination in 2007, and most homes switched to municipal water in 2008. No residents are using contaminated wells for drinking water at this time. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has listed the site on the National Priorities List of contaminated sites.
ATSDR evaluated whether past exposure to chemicals in the groundwater could have caused harm. ATSDR found that:
- Some wells had TCE levels high enough to cause harmful effects in children and adults who drank and showered in the water.
- Most of the private wells did not have harmful levels of TCE.
- Contaminants in well water are not expected to cause harm because almost all private wells in the area have been replaced with municipal water. The one or two wells still in use did not have harmful levels of TCE.
- Not enough information exists to evaluate whether chemical vapors from contaminated water underground may be entering and building up in homes (vapor intrusion).
ATSDR recommends that:
- Residents still using private wells have their water tested regularly to ensure contaminant levels remain low.
- EPA conduct further tests to assess the potential for vapor intrusion. EPA is planning to conduct additional testing to evaluate this potential pathway of exposure.
ATSDR’s report on the Lane Street Ground Water Contamination site is available for review at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/HAC/PHA/HCPHA.asp?State=IN. A copy of the report has also been placed at the main branch of the Elkhart Public Library, 300 South Second Street in Elkhart.
Updated information about EPA’s investigation of the Lane Street site can be found on EPA’s website at
http://www.epa.gov/region5/cleanup/lanestreet/index.html.
For more information, call 1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636).
ATSDR, a federal public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, evaluates the potential for adverse human health effects due to exposure to hazardous substances in the environment.