CAMDEN, Tenn. (AP) – New groundwater testing has confirmed unsafe levels of a cancer-causing metal at an abandoned Tennessee landfill, a state environmental regulator says.
The testing measured twice the acceptable limit for cadmium at the Environmental Waste Solutions landfill in Camden, a rural community about 90 miles (145 kilometers) west of Nashville. Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation spokesman Eric Ward told The Tennessean that the latest tests show that June testing results that found five times the acceptable levels of cadmium were a result of lab error.
Ward said the state regulators will follow the recommendations of a private consultant for future tests.
“We will continue to handle this situation as if we live in the neighborhood ourselves,” Ward wrote.
Resident Mike Melton, a longtime critic of the landfill adjacent to his home, said the difference in levels is of little comfort.