How did the TCE get into the drinking water at the View-Master plant in the first place?
DEQ’s investigation of the TCE contamination found that TCE was used from 1950-1981 in the vapor degreasing machine next to the paint shop to degrease the metal parts used in the mechanisms that were used in the inside of the projectors and viewers. The TCE waste was dumped in a leach field at the back of the plant. This was done in keeping with suggestions made on the chemical data safety sheets that TCE evaporated easily and would photo degrade in the sun. Unfortunately the TCE did not evaporate because it sank through the ground and contaminated the Columbia Basalt River Basin Aquifer used by the View-Master plant for employee and industrial purposes.
