Dangerous Chemicals Found In Former Dump Site

Megan Reyna was near a former dump site in Decatur where more toxic chemicals where found.

New details... new information about possibly more toxic chemicals at another former dump site in decatur.

The tennessee riverkeeper said it comes from samples near danville road and sansouci cave road in decatur.

The non-profit group says it found significant amounts of per-flouro- alkyl substances - or p-f-a-s.

It's known as the forever chemical.

Waay31's megan reyna is live near that site after learning how it was discovered and what the city's doing about it.

Just behind me is where the tennessee riverkeeper took those samples.

But they wouldn't have known about it if it wasn't for a concerned citizen.

That person use to live near this site and had an inkling something was off.

Whiteside says:"fortunatel y he contacted us, and his instincts were right."

David whiteside started the tennessee riverkeeper ten years ago to help protect the environment.

Five years in - he first heard about decatur's problems with "forever chemical" or p- f-a-s now -- he's concerned because of what he says are undisclosed dump sites across this area filled with hazardous chemicals.

Whiteside says:"when we find new dump sites like this that were previously undisclosed, it's terrifying because we can never clean this problem up unless we know where all the dumps are and where the hot spots occur."

Whiteside wants more oversight forcing companies responsible for p-f-a-s to disclose possible contaminated areas.

Whiteside says:"but unfortunately that hasn't been the case, and we're having to find that out through whistleblowers and through our own testing and that's troublesome."

But his testing has caught the city's attention.

Attorney barney lovelace represents the city in two lawsuits against chemical company 3-m.

In a statement to waay31 lovelace wrote he notified 3-m of the claim and expects the company to investigate it.

The city has also hired an environmental testing firm.

Bowling says:"we're going to test now, and hopefully have results within a week."

Whiteside says:"these chemicals will never go away unless we force the responsible party to remove them, and we need help from the public to find out where they are."

I did speak to almost everyone who lives in this area.

No one wanted to go on camera -- many of them were just learning about this discovery.

But they tell me they're concerned and just want to learn who is responsible.

Reporting live in decatur - mr waay31 news.