EPA says cancer-causing chemical found again at Calif. toxic dump blamed for birth defects
By APThursday, July 15, 2010
Cancer-causing chemical found again at Calif. dump
FRESNO, Calif. — For the second time in four months, federal investigators have found problems at a central California landfill that local residents blame for birth defects.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sent a notice of violation on Thursday to the Chemical Waste Management landfill near rural Kettleman City. It cited federal laws on the disposal of PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, a now-banned transformer fluid.
The agency ordered the company to clean up soil tainted with the cancer-causing chemical near a storage facility where the company’s independent tests detected three samples that tested positive for PCBs last week.
In April, the EPA told the landfill it could lose the ability to receive hazardous Superfund waste if it did not clean up the first area where PCBs were found.
