Outreach
|
From left to right, José Francisco
Garcia (US EPA), Monica Ramirez (UA SBRP), Denise Moreno
(Binational Center) and US Congressman Raúl
M. Grijalva. |
Moving Information into the Hands of the
Community
On
Saturday, November 4, 2006, UA SBRP Research Translation
Coordinator, Monica Ramirez and US-Mexico Binational Center
for Environmental Studies and Toxicology (Binational Center)
Program Coordinator, Denise Moreno joined US EPA Community
Involvement Coordinator, José Francisco Garcia at
the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association’s 10th Annual
Arts and Craft Fair. The fair took place at Wildcat Charter
School for grades 6 through 12 in Tucson, Arizona.
The Sunnyside Neighborhood Association is an established
partner and participant in the Tucson International Airport
Area (TIAA) Superfund Site Unified Community Advisory Board
meetings. These meetings are a forum to discuss the
short and long-term impacts of groundwater contamination
from this Superfund site. The TIAA site is geographically
situated in the northern portion of the Tucson Basin in Pima
County, Arizona, and includes the south side of the city
of Tucson. The Sunnyside Neighborhood Association is
one of the areas affected by the main plume of groundwater
contamination.
The
primary Contaminant of Concern found at the TIAA
site is Trichloroethylene (TCE), a volatile organic compound
that has been widely used as an industrial solvent. Other
contaminants found include tetrachloroethene (PCE), dichloroethylene
(1,1-DCE), chloroform, benzene and chromium. In addition,
there is an emerging contaminant in the area that was used
to stabilize the TCE, called 1,4 dioxane. A total
of 11-city drinking water wells and a greater number of
private household wells have been shut down to date as
a result of groundwater contamination.
Together,
the US EPA, the UA SBRP and the Binational Center provided
information and answered the community’s questions
regarding the site’s remediation strategies and TCE
health effects. The following materials were distributed:
- “What
is TCE?”, a basic information/fact
sheet, provided in English and Spanish
As
a team, Ms. Monica Ramirez, Ms. Denise Moreno, and Mr.
José Francisco Garcia are working to meet the needs
of the community now and in future TIAA Superfund Site
Unified Community Advisory Board meetings. |
