EPA tests Macon facility for dangerous substance

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released its results Wednesday after testing a Macon facility for a dangerous substance.

According to a news release, the EPA conducted the tests at the Freudenberg Texbond facility in February. It’s located at the Macon Naval Ordnance Plant Superfund site and is near the Navy’s former waste water treatment plant.

The EPA tested 14 indoor air samples for trichloroethylene (TCE).  According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, TCE is a colorless, volatile liquid that evaporates quickly into the air. It is used for cleaning metal parts. Exposure in high concentrations can cause headaches, dizziness, nausea, unconsciousness, and death. 

The EPA says it found high levels of TCE in one of the employee break rooms.

The agency says the facility “took immediate steps to increase the air exchange rate” inside the break room to limit worker exposures. The EPA came back in April to test again. The results showed lower and acceptable levels of the substance.

The EPA is scheduled to come back to the facility in August to check on the site and see if it can find the source of the leak.

The news release states the US Navy and its contractors produced flares and other artillery at the site from before World War II until 1973. It was placed on Superfund’s National Priority List in May 2013. The EPA says groundwater at the site is contaminated with TCE from the Navy’s former waste water treatment plant.

41NBC reached out to the Freudenberg Texbond facility for comment. We’re waiting to hear back.