Lupardo Pushes TCE Changes

In the wake of the Environmental Protection Agency announcing a link between the industrial solvent TCE and cancer, Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo is renewing her push for stronger standards.

Currently, the New York State Department of Health allows up to 5 micrograms of trichloroethylene per cubic meter of indoor air before requiring mitigation. Lupardo introduced a bill in 2008 that would require the DOH to set the limit based on scientific study. TCE is the dominant volatile organic compound within Endicott's Toxic Plume which led to hundreds of cases of vapor intrusion in the area. Stronger standards wouldn't likely affect mitigation for people in the area that IBM took responsibility for as the company offered ventilation systems to anyone whose indoor air registered even a trace of TCE from groundwater. However, more TCE contamination has been discovered in other areas.