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Third Round of Sampling Reveals No Indoor Air Health Concerns at Buildings 50 and 52 at the Bannister Federal Complex

Release Date: 01/31/2011
Contact Information: David Bryan, 913-551-7433, bryan.david@epa.gov


Environmental News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Kansas City, Kan., Jan. 31, 2011) - Results of a third round of air monitoring in and around a child care facility and an adjacent building at the Bannister Federal Complex in Kansas City, Mo., do not reveal health concerns with indoor air at the facilities related to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), EPA Region 7 officials announced today.

EPA Region 7 and its contractors performed a series of sampling activities Aug. 6-8, 2010, at the two buildings, which are part of the General Services Administration's managed portion of the complex. Building 50 houses GSA's Kansas City South Field Office, and Building 52 houses the Bannister Complex Child Development Center, a child care facility.

This third round of tests was taken in the same areas of the buildings as previous tests in February and March 2010. The sampling included indoor air tests, as well as supplemental tests of outdoor air and air samples taken from beneath the concrete floor slabs of both buildings. This sampling round included additional volatile organic compounds. Indoor air samples showed no indication of health concerns related to volatile organic compounds. Results of the related sampling do not indicate migration of any vapors from beneath the building that would pose health risks.

EPA also conducted groundwater sampling, soil gas sampling, and soil sampling around the two buildings in December as part of an agreement between EPA and GSA. Additionally, the last of four rounds of air testing was conducted Nov. 19-21, 2010, as part of the comprehensive testing plan at these buildings.

An air sampling results summary is available at www.epa.gov/region07/cleanup/bannister.