The plume from the old Escambia County Mosquito Facility is contaminated with Lindane, which was in the pesticides used at the facility. A test of one sample on the soil taken in late September by TestAmerica found the only trace amounts of the Lindane, according to emails released by the City of Pensacola Sunshine Center this afternoon.
Shawn Hamilton, the Northwest District DEP Northwest District Director, yesterday sent the TestAmerica report to Escambia County Administrator Jack Brown and Chips Kirschenfeld, Escambia County Natural Resources Management Department director.
Kirschenfeld wrote Hamilton, “Just to confirm that I’m interpreting these soil laboratory results the same as everyone else, the qualifier “U†means that lindane was analyzed for but not detected by the laboratory instrument. And the laboratory instrument has a Method Detection Limit (MDL) of 0.00022 mg/kg. So my interpretation is that the concentration of lindane in the soil sample collected on September 27, 2016, if there was any present, was between 0.0 and 0.00022 mg/kg. This is over 10,000 times less than the Florida Commercial/Industrial Soil Cleanup Target Level of 2.5 mg/kg, and over 3000 times less than the Florida Residential Soil Cleanup Target Level of 0.7 mg/kg.”
Hamilton replied, “Yes, your assessment of the data and standards are correct.”
He told Inweekly that he believes the September sample is the only one that has been taken and the lab only tested for Lindane. The County has taken a sample this week and will test for a full range of carcinogens. The results will be back in a week or so.
Kirschenfeld doesn’t believe the soil poses any health risks based on the TestAmerica results.
“If I did, I would be shouting from the courthouse steps,” he told Inweekly.
If the tests run by the county and Emerald Coastkeepers have the same results as TestAmerica, the Tanyard residents and businesses will have one item that they check off their long list of concerns.