The purpose of this health consultation is to determine whether contaminants in groundwater from the Motorola 56th Street facility represent a threat to public health. The facility was first occupied in the spring of 1950 as the Western Military Electronics Center. From 1950 to 1958, it was primarily used for bench type electronics, electronic assembly, and semiconductor production. The chemicals used in these processes included solvent degreasers such as trichloroethylene, acetone, and freon, and metals such as cadmium, chromium, and arsenic. From 1959 through 1961, the facility was used primarily for document storage. Beginning in 1962, manufacturing of electronics resumed to include assembly of circuit boards, plating, and degreasing. Chemicals used between 1962 and 1974 included trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, and a number of acids and metals including arsenic. In 1975, the facility began manufacturing liquid crystal products. These activities continued until 1982, when it was converted to office use. The investigations that have been conducted to date have shown that there are residual levels of arsenic and fluoride in down-gradient private wells west of the facility. Solvent contaminants that were found in the 1980s are no longer present at detectable levels in down-gradient private wells.

The purpose of the consultation is to identify any current groundwater use in the Motorola 52nd Street Superfund Site area that might result in human exposure to site contaminants. The Arizona Department of Health Services previously evaluated well use in Operable Units 1 and 2 in 1992. This report updates the well use inventory for Operable Units 1 and 2 and provides an evaluation of potential groundwater exposure pathways in Operable Unit 3.

This health consultation evaluates results of irrigation well samples collected by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality in October 2003. Previous results obtained by the Blue Ridge Elementary School District in the summer of 2003 indicated trichloroethylene levels above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Maximum Contaminant Level. In addition, the most recent (2002) Annual Water Quality Report from the drinking water supplier, Arizona Water Company, was reviewed. A previous health consultation (Blue Ridge Elementary School, Lakeside, Navajo County, Arizona Health Consultation-April 30, 2003) reviewed environmental conditions at Blue Ridge Elementary School. Parents and school staff were concerned that environmental exposures were causing students to be absent from school. Drinking water quality reports, indoor air quality data, food safety, environmental sanitation records, student attendance rates, and the results of an annual parent satisfaction survey were evaluated in the consultation. Arizona Department of Health Services concluded that environmental conditions at Blue Ridge Elementary School posed no apparent public health hazard, and that attendance rates were similar to statewide attendance rates. As part of the 2003 health consultation, ADHS requested that the school district conduct water sampling from the on-site irrigation water wells for the school grounds. Those sampling results were not available when the 2003 health consultation was completed.

The Blue Ridge Elementary School began receiving complaints from parents and staff in 1996. The primary complaints were related to air quality problems associated with renovation activities. The school responded to these complaints by hiring a consultant to evaluate the environmental conditions at the school. The school received a report in 1997 containing several recommendations that the school implemented in 1997. A group of parents continued to express concerns about environmental conditions at the school. This group suggested that environmental exposures might be causing some students to be absent from school. In response to these complaints, the school hired another environmental consultant to conduct a follow up environmental assessment in December 2002. This report summarizes and evaluates the environmental data collected for the school and examines school attendance rates to determine whether students are absent more than at similar schools and if so, whether environmental conditions could be a contributing factor.