U.S. EPA Identifies Neighborhood Pollution Issue Valley Pike VOC Site Riverside, Ohio December 2013

*>EPA
United States
Environmental Protectior
Agency
For more information
For questions, comments or more
information about the Valley Pike
VOC Site time-critical removal
action you can contact these EPA
team members:
For technical questions:
Steve Renninger
On-Scene Coordinator
Emergency Response Branch
26 W. Martin Luther King Drive
Cincinnati. OH 45268
937.237.7530
renninger. ste ven@epa. gov
EPA Local Project Office
2049 Harshman Road
Riverside, OH 45424
937.237.7530
For general questions
Virginia Narsete
Community Involvement
Coordinator
EPA Region 5 Chicago Office
77 W. Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60604
312.886.4359
narsete.virginia@epa.gov
EPA Region 5 toll-free:
800.621.8431
9:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m., weekdays
For more information, please visit
the following website:
http://www.epa.gov/Region5/cleanu
p/vallevpikevocsite/index.html
U.S. EPA Identifies
Neighborhood Pollution Issue
Valley Pike VOC Site
Riverside, Ohio December 2013
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is investigating an
environmental problem called "vapor intrusion in the Valley Pike
neighborhood of Riverside, Ohio. Vapor intrusion occurs when
underground pollutants release chemical vapors that travel up through the
soil, accumulate beneath building foundations and cause indoor air
pollution when the chemical vapors enter buildings through cracks or
holes in foundations and crawl spaces. Measuring the amount of chemical
vapors under the sub-slab or within the crawl space of your property can
indicate the potential for a vapor intrusion problem. EPA wants to sample
the vapors beneath the residential houses or within the crawl spaces in the
Valley Pike neighborhood. EPA needs signed access forms from owners
and tenants to conduct the sampling. If a vapor intrusion problem is found,
EPA will meet with the owners to outline the mitigation steps that it will
offer to protect building occupants from the chemical vapors.
The Phase 1 preliminary boundaries of the Valley Pike VOC Site are
Hvpathia Avenue on the east, Rohrer Boulevard on the west, Guernsey
Dell and Minnesota Avenues on the north and Valley Pike Street on the
south, (see map on back page). The boundaries may change depending on
what the Phase 1 sampling data shows. The current area of concern
includes about 130 residences.
EPA will use its emergency authority under federal law to perform and
pay for the vapor sampling and mitigation work because the Agency
determined the site presented "an imminent and substantial endangerment
to public health, welfare or the environment.'' In EPA terms, the
environmental work is called a "time-critical removal action."1 A family of
chemicals called "volatile organic compounds'' or VOCs are especially
prone to vapor intrusion. In this case, investigators are concerned about
Left ; A sub-slab probe is temporarily installed in a basement floor to test for
harmful vapors that may be accumulating beneath the residence. Right: A probe on
a Riverside street tests for chemical vapors in the soil gas. EPA wants to do more
of these tests to protect residents in the Valley Pike area from vapor intrusion.
11 will conduct This Time-critical removal action under the authority of Section 104(a)(1)
of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA
blown as the Superfimd law), 42 U.S. Code Part 9604(a)(1) and 40 Code of Federal
Regulations Part 300.415.

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VOCs called tetrachloroethylene or PCE, and
trichloroethylene or TCE, which were used as industrial
solvents in the area. In a July 2013 sampling project, elevated
concentrations of PCE and TCE were discovered in the
groundwater and the soil gas beneath the Riverside
neighborhood. Elevated PCE and TCE vapors were also
discovered accumulating under the foundation in multiple
residences in the neighborhood.
Sub-slab and crawl space sampling are performed to find
vapor intrusion problems. In sub-slab testing, probes are
temporarily installed in the house slab and attached to a test
canister to sample VOC vapors trapped under the house.
Crawl space sampling is completed by placing a test canister
inside the crawl space.
Health risks
Several residences were sampled in the July 2013 sampling
project. EPA found elevated concentrations of PCE and TCE
in the groundwater underneath the neighborhood, in the soil
gas and in the sub-slab air samples. Unsafe indoor air
concentrations of PCE and TCE were also detected in
residences. The drinking water, which comes from the City
of Dayton's public water supply, is not impacted by these site
conditions.
EPA is working with the Ohio Department of Health, Public
Health - Dayton and Montgomery County and Ohio EPA on
this project.
Access needed
EPA needs the signed permission from property owners and
tenants (residential only) to do the vapor sampling in order to
determine if vapor intrusion is occurring. If the structure is a
rental property, both the owner and the tenant must sign the
access agreement. Completion of the access form is required
for either consent (which allows EPA to test) or denial.
What can be done?
If sub-slab or crawl space sampling shows chemical vapors
exceeding the health standards (also known as action levels),
with the owner's permission, EPA will design and install
what is called a vapor abatement system (VAS). The VAS is
very similar to a radon system. The VAS will include
installation of a sub-slab or crawl space depressurization
system, sealing cracks in walls and basement floors and will
include proficiency air sampling to ensure the VAS is
working properly.
EPA Project Office
An EPA project office has been established at 2049
Harshman Road. Residents are encouraged to visit the office
to ask questions and to schedule a sampling appointment.
Below: The Phase 1 preliminary boundaries of the Valley Pike VOC site are HvpathiaAvenue on the east, Rohrer
Boulevard on the west, Guernsey Dell and Minnesota Avenues on the north and Valley Pike Street on the south.
The boundaries may change depending on what the Phase lsampling data finds.
CoHractNo.:EP-SS-06-Oi
TD D: SD5-0DD1 -131D-OB3
vr
Figure 1
Phas e 1 Area of C oncern
Valley Pke VOC Site
Rwerside, Montgomery County, Ohio
Legend
~ Commercial Parcel
~ Residential Parcel
.Area of Concern
lmagerySoi
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