DEER VALLEY - The Goodrich/UPCO process building, site of last week's explosion and fire, is being torn down, and environmental sampling in the area will determine any required actions, the company said in a March 14 letter distributed to neighbors of the facility.

The letter added that earlier on March 14, Phoenix Fire Department and the federal BATF conducted an investiga tion of the process building area and returned the site to the company's control.

The Desert Advocate tried to reach officials at Goodrich to determine the type of environmental sampling that will be conducted, if and when the facility will be rebuilt and where testing will be done in the meantime, but phone calls and e mails were unanswered.

During the incident, Goodrich said in the letter, Phoenix Fire monitored air quality, looking for any potential harmful emissions at Yearling Road. The company said no readings of chlorine or ammonia were found, but the fire department did detect oxides of nitrogen that were below the measurable range of their equipment.

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality also found nothing unhealthy in its post fire and air quality sampling, according to spokes man Cortland Coleman. He said ADEQ will conduct its own investigation of the incident to learn if any violations of state environmental law occurred.

"We want to determine what led up to the explosion and fire," explained Coleman. "Was what happened related to production
or was it due to improper waste handling and storage?

If any violations are discovered, penalties could range from a Notice of Violation to escalated enforcement action."

On the longer term issue of groundwater contamination, Coleman said "characterization" of the UPCO site is ongoing.

In 1999, perchlorate contamination in the soil at the site was found at a depth of 59 feet. In March 2004, Goodrich an nounced a finding of perchlorate contamination ranging from 43 to 130 parts per billion in water at the facility's test wells. Although there are no federal standards for acceptable levels of perchlorate, California has adopted a 6 ppb standard. Percholrate is used in the manufacture of rocket propellants and is known to negatively affect the thyroid gland by interfering with iodide uptake.

Characterization involves mapping the contamination. Coleman said quarterly reports UPCO is required to submit enable ADEQ to learn if the
contamination has moved, a factor that will help drive the cleanup plan. Remediation steps can range from "pump and treat" to natural attenuation, said Coleman. In pump and treat, water is pumped to the surface and treated to remove or destroy contaminants. Natural attenuation proceses use dilution, volatilization, biodegradation, adsorption, and chemical reactions with subsurface materials to reduce concentrations of contaminants to acceptable levels.

As part of Phoenix City Council's approval of two rezoning requests by UPCO last spring, the company agreed to a series
of steps it would take to allay neighbors' safety concerns, including preparing a general emergency plan. Although there was no set completion date for the plan, following the latest incident the city has informed UPCO that the plan must be done by Sept. 13.