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Size Of Raytheon Plume Challenged

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By MARK DOUGLAS

mdouglas@wfla.com

Published: January 10, 2009

ST. PETERSBURG - An underground plume of industrial chemicals has spread farther than previously thought and is contaminating the air inside homes, according to new filings in a federal class-action lawsuit.

The findings come from two experts working for homeowners in the Azalea area who are suing defense contractor Raytheon, owner of the plant from which the chemicals originated.

The new reports are at odds with earlier findings from Raytheon and state health officials, who say the plume holds no health risk for residents. The company estimates the spread of the plume at about a half mile around the plant site.

In court filings this week, one expert for the plaintiffs, Philip Bedient of Rice University in Houston, said the plume is actually about 1 mile long by 1.7 miles wide.

Compared with previous reports by Raytheon's consultant, Arcadis, "a much larger zone of contamination exists," Bedient wrote in his report.

In a statement Friday, Raytheon spokesman Jonathan Kasle said state agencies "have concluded that there is no threat to health, and we agree with those conclusions."

The plume area identified by Bedient contains about 889 parcels of land, 91 percent of them single-family homes, according to a report in the court file by homeowners' real estate consultant John A. Kilpatrick.

Bedient based his analysis on data previously collected by Arcadis and on 29 new samples from locations tested by Fugro Consultants, which is working for the homeowners.

Bedient attributes the discrepancy in findings to different methods of measuring chemical waste from the Raytheon site. Fugro, essentially, was using a finer measuring stick than Arcadis, he said in the report. The plume has contaminated dozens of residential irrigation wells in the area.

A second expert working for the homeowners reached what may be an even more alarming conclusion: New tests show "vapor intrusion" of a harmful chemical called trichloroethylene in a number of homes above the plume.

In court records, David L MacIntosh of Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., said data collected from homes in the plume area "indicate a complete vapor intrusion pathway, similar to one found for buildings on-site at the Raytheon facility."

During the summer, the Florida Department of Health also tested indoor air quality at the BrandyWine Apartments adjacent to Raytheon. Inside several homes, the state found elevated levels of the chemical 1,2 dichloroethane, one of the cancer-causing compounds known to exist in the plume.

State health department experts concluded there was no connection between the contamination and the plume.

"I know they tested for vapor intrusion on Raytheon's own property and they confirmed they found it there," Ned McWilliams, an attorney for the homeowners, said in November, "so to think it's going to be a different situation 100 yards to the east is silly."

A final report on the health department testing is pending, but state experts say none of the residents at BrandyWine is in imminent danger.

COMMUNITY MEETING

The state Department of Environmental Protection will host a community meeting 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Azalea Middle School on Raytheon's assessment of pollution from its St. Petersburg plant and to answer questions.

Reporter Mark Douglas can be reached at (727) 709-2753.

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