Recent groundwater tests at the long-closed Tumamoc Landfill found PCE contamination at two to five times the drinking water limit, city officials confirmed Thursday. Although the elevated PCE levels are within 500 feet of homes, officials say they're far-removed from any city wells and represent no immediate health risk. Still, city workers are fanning out across two neighborhoods adjacent to the landfill: Paseo Vista and Tucson Park West 1. They're delivering notices of a hastily called meeting on Saturday to inform residents of the results and reassure them there's no danger from the PCE, or perchloroethylene. The city has eight test wells surrounding the 25-acre landfill at West Starr Pass and South La Cholla boulevards. Low levels of PCE contamination were found there in earlier tests. But the new tests place the cleaning solvent and suspected carcinogen much closer to homes than it was previously.

Water samples collected in late May that were recently returned from analysis show a well near the southeast corner of the property had 10 parts per billion of PCE, double the federal and state maximum for drinking water.

The well is directly across West Starr Pass Boulevard from the Paseo Vista neighborhood and just down the street from Cholla High Magnet School .

A second well on the north side of the landfill that had 25 parts per billion of PCE is less of a concern, Environmental Director Karen Masbruch said, because that well is closer to the heart of the fill and well away from any homes. Masbruch said the city will install two more monitor wells between the landfill and the Paseo Vista neighborhood to get a better idea where the contamination is going, but there are no immediate plans to clean it up. The wells, which cost about $20,000 each, should be in by August.

Even if the PCE migrates under Starr Pass Boulevard to the ground beneath the neighborhood, she said, there's no health risk unless someone ingests it.

Water Director David Modeer said the area is served with a blend of Central Arizona Project water and groundwater piped in from several miles away, and the closest active city well is a mile and a half away, so the PCE is not an immediate threat.

The city doesn't have any drinking water wells in the area because the volcanic rock that dominates there results in a high level of dissolved solids that make the water taste bad.

Modeer agrees there is no immediate threat to public health or to the city's groundwater supply, "but it will need to be cleaned up eventually," he said.

The landfill was jointly operated by the city and the University of Arizona from 1962 through 1966. It's part of a larger 320-acre parcel owned by the state that could be subject to sale once an investigation of the landfill is complete.

City officials considered delaying action on the landfill until fall because the contamination is not considered an immediate threat, but scheduled the Saturday meeting at the insistence of City Councilman Jose Ibarra, who represents the area.

Ibarra said that even though the neighborhood is not at risk, the city's credibility is better served by getting information to residents quickly and directly.

"We need to be proactive to let neighbors know we're working on it and make sure they know what's going on when they see more activity there," he said.

Sue Haley, who lives near the landfill, said the city is doing the right thing by being open about the findings. "That's good that they're working on it and letting us know," she said. "I appreciate them not keeping us in the dark." Sidney Thompson, who lives west of the landfill where test wells showed no PCE, said she's pleased with that finding, but still has "great concern for the other people living in the area." Thompson said the contamination could have a silver lining if it discourages development on the property. "My biggest concern has not been with the water, but to maintain the land and make sure it's preserved, not developed," she said.

* Contact reporter Joe Burchell at 573-4244 or burchell@azstarnet.com.