McCook couple homeless

A McCook couple has moved out of their home southwest of the old TRW site to avoid further exposure to a chemical used in electrical manufacturing.

Representatives of consultants for the company, which has taken responsibility for groundwater pollution connected with the site in McCook, plan a 20- to 30-minute presentation related to the cleanup effort during the McCook City Council meeting Monday night.

Officials emphasize, however, that Monday's presentation is for members of the McCook City Council and the public will not be provided a forum to air their concerns at that time.

The TRW remediation site is nestled behind a group of trees just off Airport Road east of C Street. An aerial photo shows the former TRW site, the remediation site and the Carman's home. Gloria Masoner/McCook Daily Gazett

Kurt Batsel of the Dextra Group, consultants for Northrop Grumman, and Gottula of the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality will make a report as the fourth item on the agenda Monday night's McCook City Council meeting. That meeting begins at 7:30 p.m., in the council chambers at McCook's Memorial Auditorium.

They are there in response to questions raised by Mark and Cathy Carman at the Feb. 7 council meeting.

The Carmans told the Gazette that they are "homeless," living with various friends, after a California medical expert advised them that the tricholorethylene causes the type of neurological problems such as numb fingers and toes that they have been experiencing.

This solvent was routinely dumped on the ground after being used by TRW employees in the manufacture of electrical equipment at a building now occupied by the U.S. Army Reserve on Airport Road in McCook. The contamination was discovered in 1986 when the City of McCook began searching for a new source for city drinking water because of nitrate contamination in wells along the Republican River south of McCook. That discovery led to TRW's installation in 1990 of a well and remediation equipment to pull the contaminated water from the ground and expose it to the air so the TCE could be "volatized" or evaporated away. Northrop Grumann assumed responsibility for the site after the purchase of TRW.

The Carmans, who purchased their home southwest of the site in 1997, said they discovered the problem when they decided to drill a well in 2002 to irrigate the lawn and orchard around their home.

That well, which resulted in a call from the representative of the company, showed 680 parts per billion of TCE contamination , compared to a 5 ppb allowable level.

TCE, which looks like water and has a sweet odor like chloroform, is mainly used in metal degreasing. It is also a raw material to make other chemicals and as a solvent in paints, paint strippers and adhesive, as well as a low-temperature refrigerant, grain fumigant, and is still sometimes used in dry cleaning.

It mainly affects the central nervous system, causing headache, nausea, dizziness, clumsiness, drowsiness and other effects similar to alcohol intoxication. It can also damage facial nerves, cause skin rash, and in heavy exposure, damage the liver and kidneys, and may cause cancer.

The Carmans have been in contact with Sen. Ben Nelson's office, which says it is keeping in close contact with the Department of Environmental Quality about the case.

After they learned about the problem, the Carmans told the Gazette, they visited a specialist in California who confirmed varying degrees of neurological effects in three members of the family, ranging from tingling to numb fingers and toes. Their son Ryan, 23, may have received the most exposure because of his basement bedroom, the Carmans said. He is now serving in Iraq and was unavailable for testing. Their daughter, Ashley, 20, is now enrolled in the University of Kansas.

On their doctor's advice, Mark and Cathy have moved out of their home and are now living with friends.

Meanwhile they have taken air samples in the home which showed up to 134 micrograms of TCE per cubic meter of air. Nebraska has no standard, but the Colorado standard is 1.6 micrograms of TCE per cubic meter.

The Carmans were informed in late February that the company had sent a plan to the DEQ to use their front yard as another remediation site. That plan was presented to DEQ in December.

As yet, the Carmans have not been able to reach a resolution, which would include a comparable house, with Northrop Grumman.

"We just want what's fair," Mark said, "and the rest of the community out here to be protected."

"Who else is going to be surprised?" he asked.