Plant Cleanup Underway In Paducah
Federal and state agencies are set to begin removing contaminated soil from around the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in an $18 million project designed to clean up four decades of pollution.
The U.S. Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection want to remove the cancer-causing chemical trichloroethene. The chemical, also called TCE, is used in automotive brake cleaners and printer tone enhancers and was used as a degreaser at the plant. Officials say it leaked into the aquifer beneath the facility.
Neighbors say they were sickened by the contamination. Fay Buckingham, who lives near the plant, is glad to see the cleanup start. Buckingham told WPSD-TV in Paducah (http://bit.ly/HUU5og ) the government doesn’t really care about area residents.
