It’s not their fault. Their equipment isn’t good enough to detect the toxins so I guess we’ll just have to breathe them in. They use a screening tool and it’s not sensitive enough. On top of that, their must test benchmark is too high.
Last week, TCEQ answered two odor complaints at the same Fort Worth location and both times they got a “non-detect.” All the while summa canisters were sitting on this property collecting air samples. Those canisters showed contamination that the TCEQ missed because their screening instruments are not sensitive enough.
This is why industry can claim that our air is A-OK when they know it’s not.
The difference in results all gets back to the TCEQ using a screening instrument that is not sensitive enough to detect the chemicals in the air. The instrument they use is a screening device from which they then decide whether to collect a canister or not. That is why they made the decision not to collect canister samples. Had they collected a canister, the results would have been the same and indicated the presence of the chemicals that were found in the canister sample.
Wilma Subra
While the TCEQ found nothing and smelled nothing, the summa canister had a different result:
The air sample contained Carbon Disulfide in excess of TCEQ Short-Term Effects Screening Level and TCEQ Long-Term Effects Screening Level.
The air sample also contained eight Volatile Organic Chemicals and Diesel Range Petroleum Hydrocarbons. The volatile organic chemicals present in the air sample consisted of Benzene (known human cancer causing agent), Ethyl Benzene, Toluene, m & P Xylene, Methyl Chloride, Dichlorodifluoromethane and 1,3,5-Trimethylbenzene and 1,2,4-Trimethylenzene. These chemicals were present below the TCEQ Short and Long Term Effects Screening Levels but were present in the air sample. The cumulative effects of exposure to these eight Volatile Organic Chemicals, the Carbon Disulfide and the Diesel Range Petroleum Hydrocarbons are of concern. The source or sources of these air pollutants must be controlled and the concentrations in the air reduced.
The benzene levels were just barely below the Long Term Effects Screening Level. Just barely.
About Sharon Wilson
Sharon Wilson is considered a leading citizen expert on the impacts of shale oil and gas extraction. She is the go-to person whether it’s top EPA officials from D.C., national and international news networks, or residents facing the shock of eminent domain and the devastating environmental effects of natural gas development in their backyards.
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The WCEQ can't see anything, hear anything or smell anything! They also can't measure anything correctly. You can count on it. And after all the WCEQ efforts, I'll bet they sent the polluters one of those imfamous "You're Clean" letters. You can report odors to the WCEQ and watch the results only for entertainment purposes. It's better than going to a movie and there is NOT an admission fee!
The air sample contained Carbon Disulfide in excess of TCEQ Short-Term Effects Screening Level and TCEQ Long-Term Effects Screening Level.
Novasyn Organics.com
Not to sound cynical or anything, but maybe the TCEQ is using the same standards they use for water quality–if Texans aren't using the air 'recreationally,' then the air can have acceptable levels of pollution. Keep on reporting, your cause is a worthy one…
Something clearly needs to be done about the "screening level" used by TCEQ. Obviously they are missing a lot. That level needs to come way down. The highest reading they recorded at this site was 1.3 ppm and they won't set a canister until the level shows 5 ppm. But look what showed up at 1.3 ppm. Scarrrrry!!!!
5ppm is past the ESL for many of these toxins. The TCEQ can have non-detects repeatedly while citizens have CONSTANT exposure. All the while, Ed Ireland blathers on about how safe our air is.
If the TCEQ found something wrong, then somebody would have to go to work and clean it up! That would be bad for the Bought Off Politicians and then what would they do? The system is designed, in Texas, to perpetuate itself. And the peasants suffer!