I’ve been an environmental lawyer for more than 20 years, working for communities whose homes, air, and water have been polluted by industry’s careless disposal of dangerous chemicals. I’ve seen government respond aggressively to protect its citizens under these circumstances, but more often not so aggressively. I’ve even seen government…
If you have recently been told, probably by the EPA or a state agency, that there is a possibility of vapor contamination in your neighborhood, what does that mean and what should you do now? First of all, what is vapor intrusion? Vapor intrusion can happen when the groundwater in…
The threat that chemicals contaminating groundwater are turning into a gas (‘vaporizing”) and drifting upward to intrude into the breathing space of overlying homes exists in many neighborhoods throughout the country. And this threat will remain with us for decades, as we continue to try to deal with nearly a…
How long after the discovery of chemical contamination in groundwater should the government be checking to see if those chemicals have turned into a gas (“vapor”), and migrated upward to intrude into the breathing space of homes? They shouldn’t wait a quarter of a century, that’s for sure. News just…
Do you live near a factory, a landfill, a farming operation, or a gas station? If you do, you should be aware of the possibility of “vapor intrusion”. Vapor intrusion is a process in which chemical contamination– which the factory, landfill, etc., caused by disposing of volatile organic compounds (VOCs)…
Will President Trump and the man he appointed to head the EPA, Scott Pruitt, rig our system for determining which sites are the most environmentally dangerous in the country by ignoring the threat of vapor intrusion that these sites pose to human beings living near them? Sadly, there are many…
Recently, Ford Motor Company sent a letter to the owners of homes and businesses to the immediate east of Ford’s Transmission Plant in Livonia, Michigan, to deliver the unfortunate news that a chemical known as “vinyl chloride” is contaminating the shallow groundwater in their neighborhood. The revelation of this serious…
Beware of anyone who knows that people may be drinking or breathing dangerous chemicals, and yet doesn’t want to test to learn for certain if the chemicals are actually there. That kind of self-induced ignorance can cost people their health, even their lives. In my 17+ years as an environmental…
For the last 17 years, I and a team of lawyers have been representing families threatened by TCE contamination in their water supply, in the groundwater underneath their homes, and in the air inside their homes (called “vapor intrusion”). Recent reports in the media, unfortunately, describe how TCE, disposed of…