Tag: contamination

  • City Sues Firefighter Foam Makers Over Water Contamination

    environmental Strategist, between the lines:  In a past article, “Must Read For Insurance Professionals That Sell Commercial Fire Insurance Policies,” I strategize why insureds need a financial assurance plan before a fire occurs to address environmental liabilities caused by fires.   After a fire occurs, insured’s need monies to address the contamination left behind by the firefighters in putting out the fire along with charred, toxic remnants of real and personal property.

    Fire policies generally offer a token amount to address clean up after a fire.  The cleanup limit offered in a fire policy is substandard because the insurance carrier does not want to foot the bill for pollution liabilities that result due to a fire.  Environmental insurance plays a critical role in filling in this coverage gap created by fire policies.

    Offering substandard cleanup limits is the same strategy executed by standard property & casualty insurance carriers who offer “limited pollution coverage”.  The term “limited pollution coverage” is an oxymoron because the “limited pollution coverage”, limits the insurance carrier’s exposure to paying for a pollution claim and has a very tight window to discover and report a pollution claim for coverage to be in force.

    As the article below points out, adding fuel to the fire (pun intended), 3M, a manufacturer of firefighting foam is being sued because the suit claims, “the foam chemicals are persistent when released into the environment and harmful.”

    So if the lawsuit turns out to be true, firefighters are using known contaminants to put out a fire and yet fire departments are immune from environmental liabilities in the course of putting out a fire.

    What is your insured’s financial assurance strategy to address environmental liabilities after a fire?

    Fill out the attached application and ERMI will negotiate for environmental insurance to fill in the coverage gap for your insureds you sell fire policies to.

    https://whdh.com/news/city-suing-fighter-foam-makers-over-water-contamination/

  • City Sues Firefighter Foam Makers Over Water Contamination

    environmental Strategist, between the lines:  In a past article, “Must Read For Insurance Professionals That Sell Commercial Fire Insurance Policies,” I strategize why insureds need a financial assurance plan before a fire occurs to address environmental liabilities caused by fires.   After a fire occurs, insured’s need monies to address the contamination left behind by the firefighters in putting out the fire along with charred, toxic remnants of real and personal property.

    Fire policies generally offer a token amount to address clean up after a fire.  The cleanup limit offered in a fire policy is substandard because the insurance carrier does not want to foot the bill for pollution liabilities that result due to a fire.  Environmental insurance plays a critical role in filling in this coverage gap created by fire policies.

    Offering substandard cleanup limits is the same strategy executed by standard property & casualty insurance carriers who offer “limited pollution coverage”.  The term “limited pollution coverage” is an oxymoron because the “limited pollution coverage”, limits the insurance carrier’s exposure to paying for a pollution claim and has a very tight window to discover and report a pollution claim for coverage to be in force.

    As the article below points out, adding fuel to the fire (pun intended), 3M, a manufacturer of firefighting foam is being sued because the suit claims, “the foam chemicals are persistent when released into the environment and harmful.”

    So if the lawsuit turns out to be true, firefighters are using known contaminants to put out a fire and yet fire departments are immune from environmental liabilities in the course of putting out a fire.

    What is your insured’s financial assurance strategy to address environmental liabilities after a fire?

    Fill out the attached application and ERMI will negotiate for environmental insurance to fill in the coverage gap for your insureds you sell fire policies to.

    https://whdh.com/news/city-suing-fighter-foam-makers-over-water-contamination/

  • CDC Concerned Over Growth In Legionnaires Cases

    environmental Strategist, between the lines:  Legionnaires Disease is a bacteria that can create an environmental liability for those using central air conditioning systems, fountains, room-air humidifiers, ice-making machines, whirlpool spas, water heating systems, showers, misting systems typically found in grocery-store produce sections, cooling towers used in industrial cooling systems, evaporative coolers, nebulizers, humidifiers, windshield washers….

    A little background:  Legionnaires is a bacteria that got its name after a 1976 outbreak at an American Legion Convention in Philadelphia.  221 people contracted the bacteria and 34 died.

    What risk management strategy are you implementing to address exposure to Legionnaires Disease for your client’s?  Pollution liability insurance can protect property owners or those with an insurable interest for their exposure to Legionnaires.

    CDC officials said this new study was prompted by two factors: First, the public notoriety of cases over the last three years that included, first, the Pittsburgh VA, then a cooling tower outbreak in New York City, and, last year, the outbreak in Flint, Mich.
    CDC officials said this new study was prompted by two factors: First, the public notoriety of cases over the last three years that included, first, the Pittsburgh VA, then a cooling tower outbreak in New York City, and, last year, the outbreak in Flint, Mich.
    By Sean D. Hamill / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

    Legionnaires’ cases in the United States quadrupled from 2000 to 2014, with about 5,000 people a year — and probably many more — now being infected by the deadly form of pneumonia, but the exact reason for the growth is unclear, officials with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday.

    And too many of those cases occur during an outbreak, CDC Director Tom Frieden said Tuesday in a phone call with reporters to announce the publication of a comprehensive study on outbreaks published on the CDC’s Vital Signs webpage.

    “I’ll give you the bottom line [of the study] right off the top: Almost all Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks are preventable with improvements in water system management,” he told reporters.

    During that 15-year period of 2000 to 2014, the CDC investigated 27 confirmed, land-based — as opposed to ship-based — Legionnaires’ outbreaks.

    Those outbreaks included the 2011 and 2012 Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh Healthcare System that the CDC determined infected 22 people and led to the deaths of six of them. Overall, 415 people were infected in the 27 outbreaks, and 65 of them died, the CDC said.

    PG chart: Legionnaires’ cases increasing
    (Click image for larger version)

    The CDC study found that in 23 of the 27 outbreaks it investigated there were “gaps in maintenance that could be addressed with a water management program to prevent Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks…”

    There were many more people sickened and killed during other outbreaks the CDC was unable to investigate during that timeframe. It noted in the study that from just 2000 to 2012, it had requests to investigate about 160 outbreaks.

    CDC officials said this new study was prompted by two factors: First, the public notoriety of cases over the last three years that included, first, the Pittsburgh VA, then a cooling tower outbreak in New York City, and, last year, the outbreak in Flint, Mich.

    In addition, last summer, after nearly a decade of work, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers — known as ASHRAE — completed its recommendations for dealing with the water-borne disease of Legionella in building water systems. ASHRAE’s recommendations are expected to eventually find their way into many of the country’s state or local building codes, carrying the power of law.

    Since last summer, though, the CDC “heard the ASHRAE standards weren’t easy to understand unless you were a building engineer,” Dr. Frieden said.

    As a result, the CDC on Tuesday also released an online “Toolkit” that it hopes will make adopting the ASHRAE standards easier for building owners and managers.

    The Toolkit was piloted in Flint, where the CDC took it to building owners and managers who were impacted by the outbreak there that infected 91 people — including 50 cases in a local hospital.

    In addition to the few, widely publicized outbreaks that occur annually, the CDC said it is equally concerned about the overall rise in Legionnaires’ cases, with more than 5,000 annually, nearly all of which occur without little to no publicity.

    “And we think [the number of people infected] is much higher,” said Cynthia Whitney, co-author of the Vital Signs study, “not because we don’t hear about the cases, but because we believe they’re never diagnosed.”

    The number of cases may be rising steadily for a variety of reasons, she said, including: More healthcare professionals know to look for it; better testing; a larger, more vulnerable and aging population; and a warmer climate that makes it easier for Legionella — the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease — to grow.

    Victor Yu and Janet Stout, two Pittsburgh-based Legionnaires’ experts who were not involved in the CDC study, noticed in the Vital Signs report, however, that the CDC said nothing about regularly testing a building’s water for Legionella, something they have recommended for 30 years.

    “The CDC has a long history of recommending not looking for Legionella as a prospective element to assess risk,” Dr. Stout said.

    The CDC has said for decades that it believed testing regularly for Legionella would give building owners a false sense of security since people have contracted the disease when there were no signs of the bacteria in the water system.

    Dr. Whitney said there is no testing recommendation in the Vital Signs study because “we didn’t want to get into it.”

    But she said because the ASHRAE standards now recommend testing water, the CDC has now changed its position on testing since last summer.

    “We are not against testing” water for the presence of Legionella, she said. “We think it has its place, particularly in healthcare facilities.”

    Sean D. Hamill: shamill@post-gazette.com or 412-263-2579 or Twitter: @SeanDHamill.

    First Published June 8, 2016 12:00 AM

  • What Happens After The Fire…..

     

    BusinessFire
    Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at Gene’s Auto Parts in Traverse City, MI ~ Record Eagle/Tessa Lighlty

    What You Need To Be Discussing With Your Clients About The Aftermath Of A Fire and How Pollution Insurance Can Play A Role

    The Article and related links below highlight a simple fire that took place at Gene’s Auto Parts near Traverse City Michigan.  Gene’s does auto salvage and parts sales.  Some of the contaminants that were probably released during the fire would be air emissions from burning tires, plastic, inventory…, cadmium, lead, asbestos, petroleum products, anti-freeze, mercury….  Are these contaminants covered under the fire policies you sell?  What is your strategy to fill in this gap?

    Businesses that can have similar environmental exposures as Gene’s Auto Parts due to a fire would be auto manufacturers & dealers, commercial truck manufacturers & dealers, agricultural equipment manufacturers & dealers, trucking companies, marina’s & ports….etc

    If your client purchases fire insurance and experiences as loss, what happens after the fire department puts out the fire? The water and chemicals used to put out the fire mix with anything which melted or was released during the fire including the charred remains. Often times this leaves behind a toxic goo creating a pollution liability for the property owner. The fire department is immune.

    If the property owner does not have a pollution policy and they experience a fire, there are a lot of costs the insured is self-insuring.  As your client’s professional risk manager have you informed them of the potential pollution exposures they are self-insuring? What about third party bodily injury from neighbors inhaling fumes?  What about third part property damage to neighbors when the goo migrates on to their property, cost for emergency response crews, defense costs, investigation costs, business interruption…?

    Insurance professionals that sell fire insurance and do not educate their insureds on the value pollution insurance offers, are opening themselves up to an E&O suit.  Not to mention this creates a professional reputational risk exposure as well.

    Environmental Risk Managers is here to assist you with all things environmental! Including the aftermath of a fire like this.

     

    BusinessFire2
    Megan Woods, Reporter – 9&10 News

    Blair Township fire destroys business, closes busy road

    • By ERIN SLOAN esloan@record-eagle.com and TESSA LIGHTY tlighty@record-eagle.com

    TRAVERSE CITY — Clouds of heavy smoke billowed into the sky over Blair Township when an auto parts shop caught fire, triggering the closure of a major roadway. Fire crews on Friday responded to Gene’s Auto Parts on M-37 shortly before noon, said Blair Township Fire Chief Jim Carroll.

    The blaze started in a back building where cars are deconstructed and salvaged, he said.”The building is really hard to get around in inside and we tried to hold it to the back building as long as we could and then it went over our heads into the next building forward,” Carroll said. “We’ve gotten it away from the office.” Chris White, an office employee at the shop, was working in the front office when flames erupted.”We didn’t think that it was going to affect us, but it started spreading so they said ‘get out,’” she said. “Very sad. Very sad how people are going to be out of a job. It’s just scary.” White said she was able to save some files from the office before being evacuated. “We couldn’t get the water into the back part but then things started to get really heavy — smoke and heat so we decided we had to come out,” Carroll said.

    The building, which is most likely a total loss, was difficult to maneuver around, especially with the heavy, black smoke that enveloped the property, Carroll said. “It’s one of the biggest I’ve seen,” Carroll said. Crews battled the flames from ladder trucks and the ground outside of the building, but the thick smoke became a concern after one firefighter was sent to a local hospital for observation, he said.No one else was injured before or during the blaze. Carroll was unsure what caused the fire as of Friday afternoon.”It’s all car parts. All the little bangs and beeps and explosions you hear are actually mostly airbags,” he said. “Everything else in there is OK, but there is metal.”

    Jack Akers, a resident who lives across the street from the shop, and was a longtime friend to the company’s founder, the late Gene Denman.”It almost makes me cry because I’ve seen (Gene) start it,” Akers said. “I thought they had it under control and it’s just gone, it’s gone. I’m just wondering what in the world the dollar amount is going to come out to.”Akers has watched his friend’s business grow for years from its Acme location to the one between Nimrod and Blair Town Hall roads. The business celebrated 50 years in 2014.”I feel closer to it than anyone else because of the friendship, and we were friends. I’ve seen him grow this business from Acme to here and then see it grown into a million-dollar business. That’s the part that really hurts,” Akers said.American Red Cross Disaster Services arrived on scene as soon as they could to help keep emergency crews fed and hydrated, said Bud Ingram who serves on the organization’s action team.

    “We were paged by dispatch to offer assistance,” Ingram said. “We scrambled out to get coffee and pizza for everyone.”Ingram made a stop at a Holiday gas station for donated coffee, and picked up pizza, crackers, sports drinks and bottled water for the crews. M-37 was closed for at least five hours Friday as Blair Township Fire, Grand Traverse Metro Emergency Services and Grand Traverse Rural Fire battled the flames and Grand Traverse County sheriff’s deputies diverted traffic.

    Gene’s Auto Parts Fire Additional Links:

    http://www.record-eagle.com/news/local_news/update-blair-township-fire-destroys-business-closes-busy-road/article_378a70ba-9725-5412-af65-b29b74ab200b.html

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bovjrWvXU0s Video

    http://photos.record-eagle.com/Genes-Auto-Parts-Fire-April-8/ Photos

    http://www.9and10news.com/story/31684591/genes-auto-parts-begins-clean-up-after-devastating-fire

  • Lead Contamination And An Aging Infrastructure

    environmental Strategist, between the lines:  The fallout from the Flint, Mi. lead contaminated water crisis is putting the spot light on businesses / municipalities that deliver potable (drinking) water.  Flint estimates it would take $55,000,000 to replace their lead pipes.

    The potable water industry is what some would classify as highly regulated.  However, back when lead pipes were used to supply potable water it was not so regulated because for the most part we did not understand the dangers of lead.

    As the article links below highlight there are many ways environmental problems can flow into potable water and lead is not a Flint environmental exposure but a nationwide environmental exposure.

    A well-known fact is, as our infrastructure (water, sewer, storm water, roads, bridges, dams…) continues to deteriorate, it creates huge environmental exposures for business and municipalities that use / maintain them.  The environmental exposure created by infrastructure deterioration grows with each passing day.

    eS Risk Transfer Strategy:  Businesses and municipalities as part of “Best Practices” must have a financial assurance strategy to address potential liabilities created by deteriorating infrastructure.  A financial strategy to address legal fees, investigation & clean up costs, third party bodily injury, third party property damage, third party business income, disposal costs….  While pollution insurance won’t cover the cost to replace the lead pipes it can cover a lot of associated costs that come from environmental exposures created by deteriorating infrastructure.  Since environmental liabilities are generally a severity versus frequency issue, you must assess the economies of scale afforded by transferring your risk to a third party insurer versus self-insurance.

    Ohio village issued 2nd state EPA violation for lead problems

    CLEVELAND | BY KIM PALMER

    Ohio environmental officials gave a northeast Ohio village another violation for failure to submit two weekly water reports and not communicating test results to homeowners after elevated levels of lead were found in some of the drinking water in January.

    The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s Tuesday notice is the latest complaint levied by the state against Sebring, 60 miles (97 km) southeast of Cleveland, after the agency found village officials failed to properly warn residents about water chemistry that caused corrosion in piping leading to 28 homes and one school building in January.

    An Ohio EPA spokeswoman said if Sebring does not fix the problem, the state agency could fine the village or involve the Ohio Attorney General on the criminal side. However, the spokeswoman does not expect either to occur.

    Sebring’s manager, Richard Giroux, said the village believes it was meeting all the state EPA’s deadlines and the discrepancy may have arisen from the initial use of an incorrect address by state officials. The Ohio EPA spokeswoman said miscommunication was not the issue.

    The Ohio EPA first reported elevated lead levels to Sebring officials on Dec. 3. The notice in Ohio follows the controversy over dangerously high lead levels in the water of Flint, Michigan, which has led to calls for the resignation of Michigan Governor Rick Snyder.

    Schools in the Sebring district were closed for three days in January after two samples from Sebring’s McKinley Junior/Senior High School tested with lead levels above federal standards.

    Sebring officials must submit weekly pH and alkalinity monitoring results reports, offer free water quality testing to all residents upon request and provide bottled water or filtration systems to homes where results are over the federal allowable level.

    “When EPA staff followed up this weekend to conduct cautionary testing on a few homes that tested above the federal allowable level, it became evident that the village had not notified these residents of their recent test results as quickly and thoroughly as they should have,” Ohio EPA Director Craig Butler said.

    Water testing results submitted Tuesday found that 664 of 698 samples have tested below the federal allowable level and test results confirm that the village’s water plant is lead free.

    A report by the EPA said that follow-up tests confirm the water coming into the homes is under federal allowable limits and that running water for several minutes successfully eliminates any detectable lead in the water.

    Lead water pipes still a concern in Boston area

    A piece of an old lead water pipe sat next to a new copper pipe on a Lansing, Mich., street.
    DAVE WASINGER/LANSING STATE JOURNAL – A piece of an old lead water pipe sat next to a new copper pipe on a Lansing, Mich., street.

    By GLOBE STAFF 

    Despite drastic improvements in the quality of drinking water over the last few decades, lead is still a concern in thousands of Boston-area homes where water is running through older pipes, officials said.

    More than 20,000 buildings in the area — many built before 1940, when the older service lines were phased out — are fed by lead service lines that run from the main municipal water line into a house.

    Malden is the community with the highest percentage of service lines made of lead; 47 percent of the city’s 11,682 service lines are lead, according to the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority’s best estimates. The next highest rates are in Medford (28 percent), Somerville (22 percent), Marlborough (19 percent), and Winthrop (11 percent).

    Concerns over the amount of lead in water have been reignited in the wake of the water crisis in Flint, Mich., where dangerous lead levels were recently discovered in the water.

    “We’ve been working at this problem as a society for many years, and we’ve actually made a great deal of progress. But there’s certainly more work to be done, which is why we take this so seriously,” said Stephen Estes-Smargiassi, planning and sustainability director at the MWRA.

    The MWRA sends water to 51 cities and towns, including Boston, reaching about 2.2 million people and 5,500 industrial users primarily in Eastern Massachusetts.

    The MWRA says that its water is virtually lead-free when it leaves reservoirs on its way into communities. Water mains, the large pipes that carry water through each town and city, also do not add lead to the water, the authority said. Those mains are made of concrete, iron, or steel.

    In Massachusetts, the installation of lead service lines — narrower pipes that connect mains to individual properties — stopped largely by the 1940s, officials believe.

    It is also possible that homes built before 1986 may have lead solder in their interior plumbing and that faucets made through 2013 may contain enough lead to contribute to elevated lead levels in water.

    The MWRA estimates only about 5 percent of service lines it sends water to are made of lead.

    However, MWRA officials said their records may not be accurate. For example, their records show only about 100 lead service connections in Boston. But the Boston Water and Sewer Commission says there are about 3,500.

    Steps have been taken in recent years to replace lead service lines. But there are obstacles. Replacing them can be expensive for homeowners.

    Joseph Wood, owner of Boston Standard Plumbing, said he does about one lead service line replacement every other month, compared with about two per month 15 years ago.

    He said that the average project costs between $3,500 and $5,000, but the city of Boston offers subsidies and financing that can make such project more affordable for homeowners.

    Lynn Thorp, national campaigns director at Clean Water Action, said more should be done to replace the lines.

    She said that water utilities have not made replacement a priority because there are no regulations requiring them to.

    “We need water systems to do an inventory of lead service lines and come up with a comprehensive plan for how to get lead service lines out of their systems,” Thorp said.

    She advised all residents to have their water tested.

    Philippe Grandjean, a Harvard environmental health professor who has studied lead toxicity, said that while progress has been made to reduce lead levels in water nationwide, residents should remain cautious.

    “It doesn’t mean that we’re safe and that we’ve done enough,” he said. “Every community in this country should be aware that there is a very strong likelihood that there is lead somewhere in the water system.”

    Inside buildings, lead pipes are rare, but pipes made of other materials may be held together with lead solder (which was commonly used before 1986). Brass pipes, fittings, and faucets can contain lead, too.

    One simple but effective measure to reduce the risk: Run cold water for 15 to 30 seconds if the pipes have been unused for a while to clear lead buildup. Experts also advise avoiding the use of more-corrosive hot water from the tap.

    The MWRA, for its part, alters the chemistry of its water, a practice that began in 1996, to make it less corrosive and less likely to cause lead to leach into the water.

    Lead poisoning can cause serious damage to the brain, kidneys, nervous system, and red blood cells, potentially affecting physical development and the ability to learn.

    Small amounts of lead in adults are not thought to be harmful, but even low levels of lead can be dangerous to infants and children.

    “If the lead causes brain damage, that is going to stay for the rest of the child’s life,” Grandjean said. “You only get one chance to develop the brain.”

    Lead poisoning can also be caused by exposure to lead in soil, paint, household dust, food, and certain types of pottery, porcelain, and pewter.

    While standards exist for what is considered a safe level of lead in the blood as well as in drinking water, experts in recent years have stressed that no level is truly safe.

    To monitor lead levels in water, the MWRA conducts tests in about 450 homes across its system annually. Each must meet criteria that makes them likely to have high levels of lead.

    The US Environmental Protection Agency requires that no more than 10 percent of the samples contain levels of lead above 15 parts per billion or corrective measures will be mandated. In 2015, only 2.3 percent of MWRA samples were above the threshold.

    That’s a dramatic reduction from when testing began in 1992. At that time, more than 40 percent of samples had lead levels above the threshold.

    Communities with at least one home that tested above the standard in 2015 were: Boston, Malden, Melrose, Milton, Newton, Somerville, Stoneham, and Winthrop.

    One Malden home had lead levels of 584 parts per billion, by far the worst found.

    “While system-wide results have shown remarkable reductions, MWRA continues to stress that elevated lead levels in any home deserve attention,” the authority wrote in a letter sent last month to local officials to allay fears about the Flint crisis.

    Experts say that a scenario as dire as what unfolded in Flint is unlikely to occur elsewhere because Flint’s problems were caused by a long list of unusual and avoidable failures.

    Thorp said she hoped the Flint case would spur greater awareness of how water systems around the country still need improvement.

    “We do tend to get complacent around many drinking water issues because we’ve made so much progress in this country,” she said.

    “We tend to only react when there’s a crisis revealed. We need to be much more proactive . . . and not just react when there’s a crisis.”

  • Are You A Property Owner? How Are You Managing Your Vapor Intrusion Exposure?

    environmental Strategist, between the lines:  Vapor intrusion is such a huge environmental exposure for property owners, that ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials ) the society that developed Phase I and Phase II site assessments has developed ASTM 2600 which deals specifically with vapor intrusion. If you are a property owner you must have a strategy in place to address your exposure to vapor intrusion which can result from both onsite or migrating offsite contamination. Relying on the at fault party/s to make you whole is a very weak strategy. Pollution liability insurance can protect property owners from vapor intrusion.

    What is Vapor Intrusion you ask? In Laymans terms, Vapor Intrusion occurs when volatile chemicals migrate from contamination in the soil or groundwater up into a building’s interior space. Vapor Intrusion can pose a potential health threat to the occupants of the building, especially to sensitive populations such as children. The diagram below is an excellent illustration of how vapor intrusion typically occurs.

    courtesy of www.epa.gov

    Vapor Intrusion: An Emerging Risk that Could Cost Property Owners

    Posted on March 4, 2015 by Eugene Wingert

    Years after property owners thought they had completed the clean-up and environmental remediation of old contaminated sites, vapor intrusion has emerged as a risk that could result in additional clean-up costs and liability exposures.

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines vapor intrusion as the “migration of volatile chemicals from the groundwater or soil into an overlying building.”  Some building owners or managers may not be aware that they have a potential vapor intrusion problem at their property. In urban districts, many buildings are built in areas where soils or groundwater have elevated levels of contaminants.  However, even in areas with newer construction, the subsurface conditions could create bodily injury, remediation, or property damage exposures. In many situations, historical property uses may have impacted soils and groundwater. In a non-industrial setting, common sources of sources of volatile chemicals can include: dry cleaners, service stations or auto body shops, or leaking underground fuel storage tanks. Contaminants that are commonly found at impacted properties include:

    • Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH), including Benzene
    • Chlorinated Volatile Organic Compounds (CVOCs) such as Perchloroethylene (PCE), Trichloroethylene (TCE), 1,1,1 –Trichloroethane (1,1,1-TCA) and Vinyl Chloride
    • Landfill gas (methane)

    Volatile chemicals can diffuse and migrate through the subsurface. When the vapors reach an obstruction (such as pavement, concrete foundation, or slab) they can collect.  As cracks develop in these obstructions, the pressure difference between the building and the subsurface allows the vapors to migrate upward into the buildings.  The vapors may accumulate in work spaces or living areas within buildings to levels that pose hazards affecting properties,, acute health effects or odors. In some cases, such as residences with low concentrations of these vapors, chronic, long-term exposure may also present a risk.

    Vapor intrusion first became an issue because of several high profile Superfund cleanups.  While many of the thousands of contaminated sites in the United States have been cleaned up, vapor intrusion issues may emerge when these sites undergo post-remediation inspections. The EPA and state environmental regulatory agencies are required to perform post-remediation inspections on a regular basis to determine whether a site, which had been cleaned up and was granted a “No Further Action” decision, remains within acceptable state.

    In many cases, vapor intrusion was not considered in the original risk assessment and remediation planning. Most states have dozens if not hundreds of sites that will be re-examined.  To add to the concern, there is debate among regulators, including environmental and safety professionals, as to what can be considered safe concentrations of volatile chemicals in breathing spaces.  Inconsistent interpretation of the chemical exposures and response actions creates an uncertainty in a property owner’s risk management strategy.

    A recent development in the enforcement of levels to which a party must cleanup the contaminants highlights the regulatory inconsistency across the country.  For example, in 2014, the EPA in Region 9 (California) recently set strict guidelines for trichloroethylene (TCE) levels in buildings caused by vapor intrusion. The guidelines cover sites that are listed on the National Priorities List (Superfund list) and call for a tiered cleanup and response.  Depending on the concentration of TCE in the building, the stricter requirements could potentially require evacuation of buildings if TCE levels are deemed too high.  Under prior guidance, installation of a vapor instruction remediation system may have been sufficient.   The impact on safety concerns, as well as the costs from loss of use of a building, could have significant effect on property owners and insurers alike.

    In addition to those sites that are monitored by regulators, there are a significant number of properties that may still have undiscovered vapor intrusion conditions. This is common in many commercial buildings where occupants or neighboring properties (past and present) used volatile chemicals as part of their operations.  A common example would be dry cleaners.  Most dry cleaners use tetrachloroethene (PCE).  The PCE and some of its by-products (trichloroethene, dichloroethylene, and vinyl chloride) can contaminate soils and groundwater and accumulate beneath a building foundation.  This accumulation can occur over time, and may not be discovered until years after the dry cleaning operations ceased.

    A recent example of this occurred in a commercial building in New York.  There, a dry cleaner’s antiquated equipment had numerous releases and caused contamination to soil at the building.  Over time, the state regulator determined that the contamination from these releases had spread beneath multiple properties, and was migrating toward several additional commercial and residential properties.  As a result, the regulator is performing environmental studies to determine the extent of the contaminant plume.  The ultimate cleanup cost may become the responsibility of the owner of the property that leased the space to the dry cleaner, but property owners affected by the contaminant plume may also incur costs to ensure the vapors are not impacting their properties.