A few hundred people signed a recent letter asking Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt to finalize the agency’s proposed ban of the high-risk chemical trichloroethylene.
It’s commonly referred to as TCE and has been affiliated with Tinker Air Force Base as well as the former Eagle Industries site in Midwest City where it was used to degrease parts.
In their letter, the 200 signers urged Pruitt to “immediately finalize the proposed rules.”
“The science is clear, and delaying action is unacceptable,” they added. “And people like us all over the country–from Arizona to North Carolina, from Indiana to Pennsylvania to Wyoming—are being exposed to TCE in our workplaces, our communities and our homes.”
The Midwest City site has been prioritized by the EPA, a site where oxygen tanks and fire extinguishers for aircraft were inspected and repaired. The company operated between 1990 and 2010 before closing,. But in 2003, a state inspection found TCE had been improperly dumped at the site and was threatening groundwater in the area.
The EPA has contended acute exposure to TCE can harm developing fetuses and prolonged exposure has been linked to liver and kidney damage.
More than 130 U.S. military installations were among Superfund priority sites including Tinker Air Force base where TCE was discovered.
