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News Release
BOISE STATE NEWS RELEASE/October 26, 2007
Open House Will Address PCE in Groundwater Beneath BSU
Officials from the Bureau of Community and Environmental Health (BCEH) and
Boise State University’s Office of Environmental Health and Safety will hold
an open house from 1:30-4:30 p.m. Nov. 7 in the Student Union Ah Fong Room
on the Boise State campus. The purpose of the open house is to inform
current and past faculty, staff and students about perchloroethylene (PCE)
contamination in groundwater beneath the Boise State University campus and
surrounding neighborhoods. Air testing showed no danger to the campus
community.
PCE is a chemical widely used for dry cleaning and at high levels can be
dangerous to your health. The PCE plume in the groundwater below a portion
of Boise State is the result of illegal dumping of the PCE into a storm
drain prior to July 2000 by a previous owner of the Broadway Center Laundry,
a dry cleaning business south of campus. Because Boise State was concerned
that vapor from the contaminated groundwater might get into the air of
basements in Boise State buildings, BCEH was asked to conduct indoor air
monitoring of the affected buildings. Tests were conducted in 2003, and
again in 2007.
In both instances air testing showed no danger to the campus community. None
of the PCE samples were at or above the average PCE level found in urban
areas in the United States, and none were at or above a level that federal
agencies consider to pose a risk to human health, even for people who work
their entire careers in one of the affected buildings.
The Bureau of Community and Environmental Health is in the Division of
Health of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. For a full report of
the PCE contamination, visit
http://www.healthandwelfare.idaho.gov/site/3393/default.aspx.
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Media Contact: Kathleen Craven, University Communications, (208)
426-3275, kcraven@boisestate.edu
For the 10th time in the last 11 years, Boise State University has set an
all-time record for Idaho higher education institutions with an enrollment
of 19,540 – an overall increase of 3.5 percent. A record freshman class of
2,280 students is also the most academically talented group ever to enter
Boise State, including 12 National Merit finalists.
The Office of Communications and Marketing - Boise State
University
1910 University Drive - Boise Idaho 83725-1030
Located in Capitol Village, 2225 W. University Drive
email
communications@boisestate.edu
Last reviewed on
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
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