EPA says dioxin 'acceptable' in day care

NITRO, W.Va., Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Federal regulators say dioxin levels in a West Virginia day-care center fall just short of the unacceptable range.

A report by the Environmental Protection Agency found dioxin levels to be "acceptable" in Nitro, W.Va.'s schools and community center, but said concentrations in the community center's day-care facility are "close" to the level that would require a cleanup, the Charleston Gazette reported.

The EPA said that, of the dioxin samples it studied, "the greatest potential risk is to young children in day care."

The additional cancer risk to children in the day care center from the dioxin is 91 in 1 million -- just short of the 100 in 1 million that would prompt EPA action, the newspaper said.

Dawn Ioven, an EPA toxicologist who wrote the five-page EPA report, based her review on dioxin sampling done by a contractor for the school system and local lawyer Stuart Calwell.

In a lawsuit filed last year, Calwell alleges that dioxin pollution from a former Monstanto Co. chemical plant contaminated the town.