117 



c;tusccl by 

 had lilllc 



compounds the C.ii\ ci mucin defines as ha/ 



50 pa:'s per million, ui about wo ounces ol 

 chemicals mixed in .1 ion ol soil Rui 1h.11 

 level e-'ecded ihc Federal limn, and the 

 r P ,■• a ,ccd ihc kind on lis Msi of dangerous 



Son-,'. :,jvns 10I.I ihc ERA ih.ll such liny 

 amour.;* ol ciininminanon wcic harmless 

 1 he> ic-i ihc safest and mosi economical 

 way iosoKc ihc pioblcm would he 10 spread 

 a layer ; cle.uier soil and call 11 a day The 

 ccisi h:.:r. SI million 



Bui 1*0 years ago ihc K P.A scaled on ihc 

 mosi expensive possible snlulion The Gov- 

 crnmer. ordcicd Rcichhold Chemical, Ihe 

 plant s Jormcr owner. 10 dip up more lhan 

 1^.500 a-.i ol soil .md haul most of 11 10 a 

 commercial dump in Louisiana - 450 dump 

 truck iOrtds, each one costing S7.500. 



E P - ofhcials said ihey warned 10 make 

 ihc sue sale enough 10 he used for any 

 purpose, including houses — Ihough no one 

 was proposing 10 build anything iherc. Wnh 

 ihal as ihe goal, ihc agency warned 10 make 

 sure children could play in ihe dm, even eal 

 11. without risk. And since a chemical in Ihc 

 Jul had been shown 10 cause cancer in rats 

 ihe agency sel a limn low enough thai a child 

 could eat half a icaspoon of din every month 

 for 70 years and not get cancer. 



I.asi month, ihe EPA officials acknowl- 

 edged that at least half of the SI 4 billion the 

 nation has spent on Superfund cleanups was 

 used to comply with similar "dirt-eating 

 rules." as ihey call thcni 



"I don't think any way you look al this it 

 could he seen as a practical solution," said W 

 Scon Phillips, an engineer with Malcolm 

 Punic an environmental planning company 

 that manages the cleanup "lis a lol of 

 money 10 spend moving dirt " 



