Army Corps says preventive measures in place

Amid concerns of the community that polychlorinated biphenyl contamination has spread in nearby areas brought about by the recent storm, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has assured residents of Tanapag village that the contractor is taking necessary measures to prevent such problem from happening.

The Environmental Chemical Corp., project contractor, has secured the area very well to make sure that there’s no water runoff in the holding cell of excavated PCB contaminated soil, according to U.S. Army Corps representative Edward Mau.

Cleanup of PCB contaminated soil at Cemetery No. 2 in Tanapag village resumed as soon as storm Saomai left the island.

The Environmental Protection Agency has also been testing water and soil in the vicinity outside of Cemetery No. 2 to find out the level of contamination after the tropical storm Saomai hit the island last week. All of the samples have been taken to the laboratory in the U.S. mainland for analysis, said Jack Downie, EPA representative.

Air monitoring is also carried out continuously during the excavation activities as air samples are obtained and analyzed for PCB concentration. “We lost six working days due to the storm but we can still meet the target date of completion,” said Mr. Mau. The Army Corps wants Cemetery No. 2 cleaned up in time for Nov. 1.

Juan Tenorio, one the village leaders representing the Tanapag Action Group, expressed concern on the runoff which came from the piles of contaminated soil which were excavated several years ago since the PCB concentration in the area is very high.

In a meeting with the Army Corps and ECC, Mr. Tenorio said children from the village were seen playing in the flood water within the cemetery. But EPA assured the Tanapag residents that they have taken samples from a pool of water beside the cemetery to find out the level of PCB concentration.

Tanapag residents are demanding that the Army Corps submit community risk assessment plan to assure that community that all measures are being undertaken to prevent further health and environmental problem.

“With the apparent neglect, can you blame us if we believe we are the subject of experiments of the federal government to find out what harm can PCB do to humans,” said Mr. Tenorio.

Meanwhile, the residents are also asking the Department of Public Health to provide the community their plan in connection with the analysis of the recent health evaluation.
Results of the blood testing to find out the PCB level in the body of the residents and general health evaluation have been received by the public health officials which would be analyzed to provide each of the resident a complete health report.