State responds to Old Fort pollution questions

Years of questions and private research into the history of environmental pollution in Old Fort have finally gotten a positive response from the state of North Carolina.

A report issued this month by the N.C. Department of Health and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services concludes that incidents of cancer in Old Fort are not associated with environmental pollution at the defunct Old Fort Finishing plat, and that school personnel are not at risk.

After the death of his brother, Curtis, to brain cancer in 2004, Oman McCourry began to research what he described as an unusual frequency of cancer of the brain among people who worked at or lived near Old Fort Finishing and nearby Old Fort School.

In the intervening years, he has requested information and assistance from various environmental and health authorities in Raleigh. In the course of his research, McCourry learned that Old Fort had not been tested for radon exposure in decades, despite having shown significantly high radon penetration in the 1980s and 90s.

Having sounded the alarm, new tests were conducted and extensive work was launched at the school bring radon levels down.

The state's report issued Tuesday, Feb. 16, confirms many of McCourry's findings, but disputes his conclusions.

"The petitioner's initial concern was the potential exposure of staff and students at the nearby Old Fort Elementary School to chemicals from the Old Fort Finishing site," the report states. "The specific concern was the possible relationship between the chemicals and cancer cases among former school staff."

As McCourry had stated, the report agrees that the United Merchants and Manufacturing Company, which operated Old Fort Finishing, left behind contaminated wells and soil, and dozens of buried drums full of hazardous waste, leaking volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as they decayed.

An effort was made in 1989 to remove the barrels and clean up the site, but McCourry has wondered if the area remained polluted and if that pollution could be associated with his brother's cancer or that of other victims in the area.

Those questions and subsequent questions about radon and asbestos at the school prompted the state to address all three concerns separately in its report.

The report states that most asbestos was removed from the school in 1990 -- the only asbestos remaining is in the old boiler room, which is isolated and kept locked, and in floor times which are said to be in good condition.

"No evidence of exposure to airborne asbestos was found," the report concluded.

As for radon, the report states that the situation is improving and EAP guidelines are being followed.

"Specific actions being taken by the school to reduce radon exposures are increasing the amount of outside air introduced into the HVAC system, cleaning of the HVAC system coils, and the sealing of cracks between the concrete slab and the baseboard. Retesting is planned after the actions are complete," the reports stated.

The matter of chemical and VOC contamination that may have spread from the Old Fort Finishing grounds to the school and community, however, seem less clear.

The report agrees with McCourry's assertions, that tetrachloroethylene (PCE) and trichloroethylene (TCE) and vinyl chloride have been present in the ground and water at the site.

"Groundwater remediation was accomplished by pumping the process well at the Old Fort Finishing site to control the migration of the contaminant plume," the report stated. When that pumping was ceased in 2000, the contaminant levels rose. The report attributes that increase to "resumption of the natural groundwater flow pattern towards the Catawba River.

"Groundwater samples collected at the Old Fort Finishing site in 2006 exceeded the N.C. groundwater standard for PCE, TCE, and vinyl chloride at several on-site monitoring wells," the report stated.

The report makes clear that contamination of the school by groundwater, or by vapor intrusion via the sewer system is highly unlikely.

There remain unanswered questions.

"No ambient air monitoring data is available at Old Fort Finishing Site from the Division of Air Quality. Nor has air monitoring been performed for volatile organic
chemicals in the school," the report stated.

"There are no exposures to asbestos, TCE, and PCE," it concludes. "Therefore, air sampling for these substances is not warranted in Old Fort Elementary School."

That does not address, however, concerns about the town's prior exposure to TCE and PCE, which were in the municipal water supply well that was capped after 1987.

The report reiterates the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources's position that no "cancer cluster" can be identified in Old Fort.

"The Cancer Registry did not detect a higher occurrence of cancers typically associated with environmental factors," the report stated. "The cancer rates for McDowell County were consistent with overall cancer rates for the state."

Statistics about cancer deaths, however, are gathered from death certificates, which go on record at the place of death, not the deceased's place of residence. One Old Fort victim died in a nursing care facility in Buncombe; another in the hospital at Wake Forrest. Thus, the state does not record these as Old Fort cancer deaths.

Mary McGuire, in an earlier interview, told The McDowell News that out-of-town cancer deaths might not be linked back to the victim's hometown.

"There is a limit to what can be done (in evaluating and cross referencing) every death and how it is tracked," she stated.