Sample Data
Below are several complete example environmental testing reports. These are ideal to use if you'd like to use an SfA activity in a workshop setting, where there isn't a specific set of test results everyone wants to understand. You can also use these if you're anticipating test results in your own community and want to practice before receiving them.
Charbert Textile Facility, Alton, RI
Keywords: Groundwater, VOCs
Charbert Dye Company bleached and dyed fabrics on a site in Alton, a small residential village in southwestern Rhode Island. Charbert dumped wastewater into open-air, unlined lagoons next to the facility. When the business closed in 2008, inspectors also discovered contamination under the building. Most neighborhood residents use well water in their homes. Tap water was tested, and some was found to be contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) like MTBE, TCE, and PERC.
The Charbert property owners know they will not be able to sell until the site is clean. They're using a remediation process called "sparging" to clean the groundwater. The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM) is monitoring the situation with quarterly groundwater tests. The neighborhood community group, Alton Community Action, wants to act as a "watchdogs" to make sure the cleanup stays on track. RIDEM has suggested cutting back from four tests per year to one test.
The most recent Environmental Monitoring Report has current and previous test results, summaries of the most serious results, full laboratory data, and map of the site with test locations marked. RI DEM also hosts all previous reports and correspondence.
Rhoades Salvage / ABC Metals, Milton, VT
Keywords: Soil, water, sediment, heavy metals, VOCs, PCBs
Rhoades Salvage (formerly ABC Metals)is a junkyard in a residential neighborhood in suburban northern Vermont. Residents have long suspected illegal and environmentally hazardous business practices: Dumping car waste fluids on the ground or storing them in rusty barrels, illegally burning things on site, and storing over a million tires in the yard. A small stream runs by the yard, into a pond that abuts many neighbors' back yards. The junkyard's operating permit was revoked, but the owner continued to operate.
Neighbors, organized as Milton CLEAN, demanded tests for contamination. The VT Department of Environmental Management called in the U.S. Environmental Protection agency to do a site investigation. The Preliminary Site Investigation Report shows the results of soil, water, and sediment testing. It includes summaries of the most serious results, full laboratory data, photos of the junkyard, and map of the site with test locations marked.
Milton CLEAN members have a range of questions about the data. Where is the contamination, and how high are the levels? Does the data show that Rhoades Salvage is responsible? Does arsenic in the pond behind our houses mean our children will get cancer? How can we use this data to to raise the alarm, if none of the agencies are acting?
Former D.A. Stuart Oil Co., Troy St, Chicago, IL
Keywords: Soil, petroleum, VOCs, heavy metals
This was the site of a lubricating oil & grease manufacturing facility from 1923-1988. Between 1988-2008, all the buildings were torn down and underground storage tanks were removed. There was strong evidence that the soil was contaminated with petroleum byproducts. The site also happens to be right next to a contaminated "superfund" site.
The City of Chicago tested the soil and groundwater for petroleum, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), heavy metals, and PCBs The Phase II Environmental Site Assessment report comes in three parts:
Public Schools in Biddeford, Maine
Keywords: air, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, particulate matter, mold & spores
Teachers in four schools in Biddeford, Maine suspected pooor air quality in their building. The commissioned an Indoor Air Quality Assessment to see if the air was safe for children and teachers to breathe.
