Worker Blows Whistle on East Hampton Town Parks Department
A decades-long East Hampton Town Parks and Recreation Department practice of reusing industrial metal barrels for trash cans in public places has been halted after an employee, who felt ill after clearing barrels of chemical residue, raised questions about it.
Town officials have called a certified company to cart away the 55-gallon drums, some of which contained Foam-Lok, a spray foam insulation. They also have ordered soil and water tests of areas near the Parks Department headquarters on the Town Hall campus where chemicals were dumped in anticipation of painting the barrels.
Foam-Lok is a polyurethane product created by combining two chemical mixtures that contain ingredients known to be skin and eye irritants and other materials that are potentially hazardous to health.
J. Michael Grisham, a maintenance mechanic in the Parks Department, told The Star that in the first week of March he had been assigned to pick up approximately 25 used drums from an insulation company and clean them out. The drums had a couple of inches of chemicals remaining in them, Mr. Grisham said, and since he did the work he has experienced shortness of breath, lightheadedness, nausea, and hair loss.
The Parks Department, which removes trash from beaches and other public places, was reportedly stockpiling barrels for use as additional garbage cans along the route of the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Montauk this weekend.
Mr. Grisham initially became concerned, he said, when he was instructed to cut the tops off the drums with a power tool that could create sparks. Assuming the chemical in the barrels might be flammable and that the drums might be pressurized, he used a different tool. However, he noticed a strong odor, he said, and took the precaution of putting on gloves, a dust mask, and a hat.
After opening up about 18 drums inside the department’s garage, he began to feel lightheaded and nauseous toward the end of the day, he said. He collected the residue from each barrel, pouring it into one. He also expressed his concerns to his supervisor, Richard Webb, but, he said, was told to continue the work, which followed standard procedure.
The next day, he and another worker were asked to rinse out the barrels, plus 10 more that had been collected, which, he said “had significantly more chemicals in them.” Once cleaned, they were to be sent to the Montauk Playhouse to be painted.
In a statement prepared for town officials, Mr. Grisham wrote that the workers were told to hose out the barrels with water “and empty them on the pavement outside the shop.” Mr. Grisham recounted that he told Mr. Webb, “I’m not comfortable with this; I don’t want to pour it out.” But, “he told me get it done,” he said.
The odor was strong, he said, and his co-worker complained of a headache. In an effort to speed things along, Mr. Grisham added some paint thinner to each drum, figuring it would make it easier to remove the existing chemicals. The attempt to clean out the barrels with water was fruitless, however, he said, as the chemicals did not appear to be water soluble. He said he was instructed by Mr. Webb to drain out the barrels on hilly ground behind the shop. “At this point, I was not feeling well at all,” he wrote.
The barrels were labeled with hazard warnings and a company phone number, which, eventually, was called for guidance. According to Foam-Lok company safety data, empty containers should not be reused, waste should be kept out of sewers, and containers should not be cut, drilled, ground, or welded. Drums containing some of the spray foam ingredients require special handling for disposal, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The ingredients in the spray foam include isocyanates, which are found in paints and varnishes, and are “powerful irritants” to the eyes and gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts if absorbed through the lungs or skin, and can cause asthma and chemical sensitization, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Installers of foam insulation are instructed to wear respirators and other protective equipment and to avoid breathing mist or vapor.
The ingredients also include ethylene glycol, which, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, can cause respiratory irritation if inhaled, or, with acute exposure, affect the central nervous system. They also include flame retardants and other chemicals.
After a day and a half of dealing with the barrels, Mr. Grisham said, he experienced shortness of breath and a “hot tingling sensation.” Concerned about jeopardizing his position with the department, he said he was reluctant to make a report or throw up “a red flag” by seeking medical attention. But by the following week, after noticing some hair loss, he went to the emergency room at Southampton Hospital where a chest X-ray and E.K.G. revealed no problems, and to the Wainscott Walk-In clinic, where he had a blood test and urinalysis.
Though doctors found nothing wrong, Mr. Grisham said he was worried enough to contact a poison control center as well as the spray foam product manufacturer’s emergency number. A representative told him, he said, that reuse of the barrels should be discontinued, and any spilled chemicals cleaned up.
Eventually, workers told Ed Michels, East Hampton Town’s chief harbormaster, who, as the town’s safety officer, is in charge of protocol for safe workplace practices. They also alerted the State Department of Environmental Conservation.
“I did a U-turn,” Mr. Michels said this week. “We stopped it right there.” He also spoke to D.E.C. officials, and was told that whatever chemicals had been released did not constitute a large enough spill for the agency to get involved.
Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell said that immediately upon learning of the situation he called a meeting with Tony Littman, the Parks and Recreation Department head, Mr. Webb, Steve Lynch, the town highway superintendent, as well as Alex Walter, his executive assistant, and Mr. Michels “to get to the bottom of what happened.”
On Monday, Mr. Cantwell said he thought the practice was well intended but should have been stopped years ago. “Reusing barrels is one thing, but if they’re not properly cleaned. . . . If we have to buy garbage containers, we’ll buy them, to avoid any potential hazards to employees and the public,” he said.
“The practice of accepting used 55-gallon drums as trash cans throughout the town is to stop immediately,” Mr. Michels wrote in a memo to Mr. Littman dated March 15. “I don’t know what they had in the past; they don’t know what they had in the past,” Mr. Michels said Tuesday. He has ordered the Parks Department to examine “all 300 barrels that they had” to determine their safety.
It is unclear where barrels have been obtained in the past, and what they might have contained. Neither Mr. Littman nor Mr. Webb returned calls for comment
After his medical evaluation, Mr. Grisham was cleared to return to work, and was on the job this week, his employment status unchanged. He said he had contacted a lawyer and his union representative, but had not filed a grievance.
“The town is not in the practice of taking action against someone who has blown the whistle about a practice that should end,” Mr. Cantwell said on Monday. He declined to comment about whether any action would be taken against those in charge at the Parks Department, and he expressed confidence in Mr. Littman who, he said, had accepted responsibility.
Lee Colombo, a Parks Department worker assigned to the Montauk Playhouse, said Tuesday that barrels with spray foam chemicals — some containing as much as several gallons — were handled there in early March, with the contents dumped out in an unfinished interior space, where the cans were to be painted.
“I told the guys, hey, I wouldn’t be touching that stuff. It has a warning label right on it.” A 15-year veteran of the Parks Department, he said he had long been concerned about the practice. He added that he shared Mr. Grisham’s concerns about workers’ exposure to chemicals and chemicals in the environment, and that he was glad Mr. Grisham had spoken out. “I feel like some of the guys are scared to say no, to step up,” he said. There is an attitude, he said, of “ ‘Just get it done, bub. Don’t worry about it.’ ”
The disposal of the barrels “will cost several thousands of dollars,” Mr. Cantwell said this week. Orange safety cones were put in place last week near cardboard covering stained spots outside the Parks Department garage where testing of a drain and the soil is to be done. “The stuff doesn’t go away,” Mr. Grisham said.