EPA holds meeting on proposed Larson cleanup

Public comments welcome

MOSES LAKE - A presentation will be given tonight about a $31 million proposal to clean up a solvent-contaminated Superfund cleanup site near the former Larson Air Force Base.

The groundwater and soil contamination came from trichlorethylene, or TCE, and happened in the 1950s or 1960s, according to a Columbia Basin Herald article from Jan. 9.

TCE is a solvent used to strip paint from airplanes, wash airplane parts and clean missile parts, according to the EPA.

No one has reported becoming ill from the TCE in Grant County. The cleanup is being proposed because over the long term, people could experience kidney or liver problems or cancer, said EPA project manager Dennis Faulk last month during an interview.

The site includes about 1,000 acres of groundwater, starts beneath the former Larson Air Force Base and reaches about four miles toward Moses Lake, according to the EPA.

The residents in the highest contaminated area near the former base are using water from the City of Moses Lake, Moses Lake City Manager Joseph Gavinski said in a previous interview.

The presentation on the clean-up plan will be from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Big Bend Community College, Building 1800, 7611 Bolling St., Moses Lake.

People can ask questions about the proposal and comment on the proposal.

Comments can be mailed to Faulk at the EPA, 309 Bradley Blvd., Suite 115, Richland, Wash., 99352 or e-mailed to faulk.dennis@epa.gov.

For more information online, go to http://yosemite.epa.gov/r10/cleanup.nsf/sites/moses.