Testing on three city streets near the intersection of Victoria Road and York Road have found elevated levels of trichloroethylene, a chemical used primarily as an industrial solvent.
As a result, the province will be offering to test inside several nearby homes.
In an update on the city’s web site, the city says it collected soil vapour samples last fall from Menzie, Audrey and Lawrence avenues, and on the laneway between Lawrence Avenue and Victoria Road South.
“The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks has offered indoor air sampling to 10 homes to determine whether any further action needs to be taken. Households were identified based on the MECP’s consideration of the data. Residents of households identified for indoor air sampling were contacted by the MECP directly by hand-delivered notice,” says the city.
The city will also collect another round of soil vapour samples from installed probes this spring to examine any seasonal effects of TCE in soil vapour and will continue to share future information with the MECP and Wellington Dufferin Guelph Public Health.
A Public Health fact sheet on TCE says the main health risk to high concentrations over a long period of time is cancer.
Public Health added that “Guelph’s drinking water is not affected by TCE in this study area."
The city discovered the presence of TCE while doing routine testing for the York trunk sewer project. At the time they said there were no immediate risks to human health.
Public Health says that the TCE likely came from industrial activity that has taken place in the area over several decades “so the TCE may have come from multiple sources.”
According to the Government of Canada web site, “trichloroethylene (TCE) is primarily used as a solvent in the vapour-degreasing and cold-cleaning of fabricated metal parts, and in smaller amounts in dry-cleaning operations, paints and paint removers, and various household products.”
The province has offered indoor air sampling to 10 homes to determine whether any further action needs to be taken, says the release.
The city will also collect another round of soil vapour samples from installed probes this spring to examine any seasonal effects of TCE in soil vapour and will continue to share future information with the MECP and Public Health.
