Door-to-door word: Officials fear barrels unearthed in area have cancer-causing material
NOTE: See related story on carcinogens that were discovered.
OLYMPIA (AP) -The Chronicle, 7/30/98 Officials went door-to-door with warnings about drinking water after drums possibly containing a cancer-causing chemical were unearthed near Tenino.
State officials said Wednesday they will test wells used by about 50 nearby residents and offer free bottled water until tests are completed.
About 50 drums were discovered at the former Pacific Powder Co. property, vacated in 1993. A crew cleaning the property for a proposed 440 home development notified the state Department of Ecology on Monday.
The drums are labeled "dinitrotoluene," a possible carcinogen if ingested. Officials have not yet confirmed whether the drums actually contain that substance, said David Jensen, a manager with an Ecology cleanup program.
The substance is used in the making of explosives, which were manufactured at the site for decades. Officials believe the drums are at least 30 years old.
The nearest drinking wells are about a mile from the waste site.
Jensen noted that testing of wells on the 1,600-acre site over the years has not turned up any pollutants similar to the explosive-manufacturing substance.
But it was unclear if tests specifically targeted the substance, he added.
Dyno Nobel Inc., which sold the property to current owner Citifor Inc., will pay for the cleanup, said Ken Dunkin, safety and compliance manager for Alaska Pacific Powder, owned by Dyno Nobel,