Threat from p 17 ADEQ is emphatic that the agency has done its due diligence on the West Van Buren site. Oppleman noted in an emailed statement that the agency’s prioritization of sites “is based on exposure risk and how that could potentially impact human health,” and that the site currently posed no risk to nearby residents, who have access to treated drinking water from the city. “ADEQ looks forward to EPA advancing a path forward for the WVB Site,” she said. Shirley disputes that there is no public health risk posed by the West Van Buren plume. Currently, the Roosevelt Irrigation District provides water and operates irrigation wells in the area. Shirley, whose business has contracted with Roosevelt Irrigation District, says that the wells provide for a “direct exposure pathway” to residents by allowing the chemicals to enter the air. Activists also point out that the West Van Buren plume, like the most recently discovered Superfund site, is located in a poorer part of Phoenix, and largely affects communities of color. The impact of types of chemicals discovered last year in Maryvale, but the report did generate new scrutiny of the agency. The department’s failure to develop water standards for multiple contaminants had “put private well users at risk of having unsafe water,” the auditor found. And ADEQ’s cleanup efforts for surface waters had fallen short, the report said. From 2014 to 2020, the number of polluted bodies of water in the state had increased, it found. About 70 of them — 40 percent — had been contaminated for at least 15 years. Barr said that, given the agency’s legacy Ash Ponders contaminants in West Phoenix dates back decades, to the late 1980s at least, when the state found evidence of a cancer cluster in Maryvale. Studies of the cluster at the time found that there were twice as many cases of leukemia among children in the commu- nity than expected. Researchers estimated that the area saw 20 additional leukemia deaths among those younger than 19 due to the contamination. Some of those families sued the city and factories as a result. Most did not succeed. Shirley said that he believes that race and class have “absolutely” affected the agency’s response to contamination — in part because well-resourced communities often have the time and money to advocate for state action. Sandy Barr, director of the Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon chapter, said it was “interesting that they are just discovering [the new site],” given the agency’s troubles with effective water quality monitoring. This fall, a scathing report released by 18 the Arizona Auditor General said that the agency was failing to conduct “key ongoing groundwater monitoring of the State’s aquifers.” It gave no mention of the in West Phoenix, it should be collecting better data about the racial and economic disparities in its work. “We know that environmental racism is prevalent throughout our system,” she said. But without requirements that ADEQ study the issue, such problems were diffi- cult to document. For now, ADEQ officials say they are doing what they can to spread awareness about the new polluted site among impacted communities in Maryvale. This is why the “community advisory board” was formed last week. One board member, Megan Sheldon, told New Times she had joined to “help answer questions from the community” as the cleanup gets underway. Owens, the other board member, said he joined to make sure “it’s done right, and make sure it’s done in a timely manner.” This, he said, is not always how cleanup efforts go in west Phoenix. Maryvale residents are waiting for remediation to begin. Owens said he would be closely watching to see who the respon- sible party is — to make sure they are held accountable. “Somebody’s got to pay,” he said. “It can’t come out of everybody’s pocket.” MARCH 3RD– MARCH 9TH, 2022 PHOENIX NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | NEWS | OPINION | FEEDBACK | CONTENTS | phoenixnewtimes.com
