Ithaca Gun Factory Contaminants Spread to Fall Creek, Residents Potentially at Increased Risk of Parkinson’s and Cancer

Contaminants from the former Ithaca Gun Factory site could be associated with the onset of one Fall Creek resident’s Parkinson’s Disease, according to local environmental advocacy group Toxics Targeting. As the site has a proposed housing development moving forward, the group is calling for increased regulation and spreading awareness about the risks of its contaminants.

Walter Hang, President of Toxics Targeting and former member of the Citizens Advisory Group for Ithaca Gun, is calling on Governor Kathy Hochul to investigate and implement mitigation efforts at all properties within at least 1,000 feet of the former Ithaca Gun site. This comes with news that shows a possible link between Fall Creek resident Kindra Bell’s Parkinson’s diagnosis and Trichloroethylene (TCE) exposure in her home.

TCE is a carcinogen and a chemical used in manufacturing for degreasing metal that has been detected at the former Ithaca Gun Factory site. It is also found in small amounts in many household cleaning products. There have been several studies showcasing the health effects of TCE exposure, with some recently linking it to an increased risk of Parkinson's. Since the 1970s, it has been known to cause an increased risk of some forms of cancer.

The former factory site was used to produce guns from the late 1800’s until it shut down in 1989. Historically, there has been a focus on cleanup efforts at the site, many of which were sparked by Hang’s original disclosure to the public about contaminants, particularly lead, at the site 24 years ago. The site is a part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Brownfields Program, which encourages the cleanup and redevelopment of abandoned, contaminated sites.

The site now has a proposed housing development which has been moving forward with approval from the City’s planning and development board, despite Hang raising concerns to the board earlier this year. Hang emphasized the inadequacy of efforts to delineate and remediate the full scope of contamination both at the site and in the surrounding areas.

In response to his concerns, the project's developers have said that contamination at the site of the housing development was below acceptable levels in all but one area, and claimed that contamination from the gun factory site has been shown to spread to the northeast, away from the townhome site.

In February of 2014, Bell’s home, along with other homes in the neighborhood near the site, was tested by the New York State Department of Health for the presence of TCE.

Bell was notified three months later that underneath and inside the basement of her home, which she had lived in since 2008, had “low” levels of TCE, but was reassured that “no action is necessary.”

The “low” levels were 12 micrograms per cubic meter, which is six-times the current New York State Department of Health’s indoor and outdoor air guidelines. Just two years later, in 2016, she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.

After her diagnosis, Bell began seeing the possible connection between her exposure to TCE and Parkinson’s after reading the book “Ending Parkinson’s Disease” by Dr. Ray Dorsey, a neurology professor at the University of Rochester Medical Center who studies the link between TCE exposure and Parkinson’s Disease. Hang says that Bell had no genetic predisposition to Parkinson’s nor any knowledge of previous exposure to TCE.

“I just thought if they [the state agencies] say it’s okay, it’s okay, and never thought anything of it until a couple of years later when I was diagnosed,” Bell told Inside Climate News. “It kind of came back in my mind and I thought, ‘Oh, I wonder if this has anything to do with that testing they did.’”

In his letter to Hochul, Hang called the state’s notification to Bell “inconceivable government incompetence,” because mitigation efforts could have been put in place to prevent further intrusion of TCE into her home.

A common mitigation effort put into homes with TCE exposure, Hang said, is a poured-foundation to prevent soil vapor containing TCE out of the home. Hang said that there are at least eight Fall Creek homes that have had mitigation systems installed.

Hang believes that to ensure the efficacy of mitigation measures, the State Department of Health should return to homes with systems installed each year to re-test the air for TCE, reducing the community’s exposure to the chemical. Hang noted that often, flooding can reduce the efficacy of mitigation systems and can allow traces of TCE to re-enter homes.

Hang says that only about half of the homes near the site were tested. This is largely due to the fact that the testing program is voluntary. He says that if TCE is detected in a home with rental units, the property owner has 10 days to notify tenants, posing a threat to rental properties in the Fall Creek area. If testing isn’t mandatory, Hang said, the tenants who live in Fall Creek have no way of knowing that they may be exposed to TCE.

When asked if TCE’s spread from the site could cause health risks to the nearby Fall Creek Elementary School, Hang told the Times, “It’s almost certain,” but said that the school was never tested by the state.

“Can the pollution in that area intrude into the school?” Hang said. “We know it’s there, but what we don’t know is whether or not it’s getting into the school.”

Toxics Targeting has launched a New York Parkinson's Prevention Campaign to spread awareness about the link between TCE exposure and Parkinson’s Disease.