Why am I still living here......

Are air/water quality reports and TCE levels available for other areas of Mountain View? I'm curious how far this plume has spread.

There's a typo of "one form" instead of "one from."

EPA at it again. Scare tactics and false information. Did you know the EPA plans on hiring 230,000 people to handle the paperwork for future "violations". Did you know that while the number may be impressive that more than double the number of hirings will be out of work? Companies will be forced out of business. You'll be forced to buy dealer parts whick will shut down 3rd party companies? Don't believe it, check it out.

"Activist and Whisman Rd resident Jane Horton..."
"When she testified...to the National Academedy of Sciences..."
If Ms. Horton has greater qualifications than merely 'activist', she deserves to be credited with them. What exactly are they?

Hello Steve,
THis is Jane form the article. When I testified at the Academy of Sciences it was as a "stakeholder" i.e. a person to put a face on what it was like to find out that I was over a toxic plume and how it had affected me and my family and how difficult it had been to go through the process. Through the last decade I have attended conferences and meetings and seminars about vapor intrusion and TCE contamination, also testifying at a national conference in Philadelphia, again as a person who was been affected. Usually there are no "personal" stories at these conventions, only scientists and polluters and others who are involved in soil cleanup, water clean-up and vapor intrusion. SO my credentials are only as an affected person who has learned way more than I ever thought possible about TCE and groundwater contamination and clean-up.
Thom: THese are not EPA scare tactics. I would be happy to sit wity you 1:1 or with a representative from Region 9 EPA so that you can clear up some of your misconceptions. And if you are concerned about jobs, pleae realize that the cleaning up of toxic sites and the development of new technology to remediate and clean up and administer these sites creates thousands of jobs. CLeaning up pollution that already exists does not destroy jobs.

Thom, do you really think TCE is not hazardous?!?! God lord, blind ideology has become frightening. Prove your point by opening a gallon of it in your house and breath deeply. Yah, its fine Thom, just fine.
You keep your 3rd party parts, I'll keep my life. Thanks.

Jane, thanks for the info, and I do understand the dangers of triclor. The 'Voice' is just short on detail in some of its stories.

Thom... not everything the EPA does is bad. While I share your sentiment that the government is generally too involved in our everyday lives (especially state government), cleaning up nasty toxins in our environment is a good thing... and TCE certainly falls in the nasty category.

Jane- Thanks for being the "face" of those affected by TCE. By responding in a Post, you've let us know that TCE is real...and what needs to be done by the EPA and other environmentalists to get this problem under control.

My question to you: Could this turn out to be an issue like PG&E and the Erin Brokovich lawsuit? And as BD--another North Whisman resident--wrote, 'Is it safe to still live in the North Whisman area?'

Thanks,

Frank

Wow, I am about to relocate to that area, and paying lots of $ for it! Will I be able to drink the tap water?

Hello Bree,
The drinking water in MV is almost all from Hetch Hetchy; any well water which might be added is rigorously tested.
If you move into the N Whisman area it will be disclosed to you by your realtor if the property is over a plume.
The issue from this MEW site is not drinking water contamination.
The issue is the TCE gas/vapor which may enter into buildings and become trapped and the concentration of the vapor becomes high enough to be a health risk.
If you know the address you can check on the EPA Region 9 site to see where the property is in relation to any contaminated groundwater/plume.