Sen. Barbara Boxer is demanding that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency act immediately to protect Mecca residents from strong chemical odors that have been blamed for illnesses in the rural Coachella Valley community.
In a May 5 letter to EPA administrator Lisa Jackson, the California Democrat asked that Jackson personally intervene to help families "living in unbearable conditions caused by the horrendous odors."
Last week, EPA officials announced at a public meeting in Mecca that the agency is investigating Western Environmental Inc., a contaminated-soil recycling plant on the community's north side, for possible violation of federal hazardous waste regulations. Many Mecca residents blame the plant for the odors.
The EPA took 80 samples from the open-air plant, and one contained trace amounts of PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, a toxic substance. The concentration was too low to constitute a federal violation, but the EPA plans to investigate further by reviewing company records, said Amy Miller, hazardous waste enforcement manager for the EPA's Southern Pacific region.
PCBs have no odor, although they are harmful to people who come in contact with them, Miller said at meeting a Saul Martinez Elementary School, where children and teachers have been become ill after exposure to strong odors.
Boxer is chair of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
"Parents should not fear for their children's safety simply because they are breathing the air," she said in her letter.
Celia Garcia, a special education teacher at the school, said EPA action is long overdue. Her students were taking a state standardized test last week when a bad odor enveloped the classroom, she said.
She halted the test, she said, because she felt the students wouldn't be performing their best.
The community of about 5,600 people is mostly low-income and Hispanic.
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