A 26-home development project that was given the go-ahead at 277 Fairchild Drive in Mountain View has been delayed after the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) discovered the site's soil contains unsafe levels of trichloroethylene (TCE).

Courtesy of Warmington Residential

TCE is classified by the EPA as a carcinogen, and heart defects can occur in children born to mothers exposed to it. The EPA defines unsafe levels of TCE as any quantity exceeding 20,000 micrograms per cubic meter. Samples from the Fairchild site showed TCE levels were as high as 410,000 micrograms per cubic meter.

According to a report by the Mountain View Voice, the developer, Warmington Fairchild Associates LLC, will clean up the soil contamination over the next few months before moving ahead with further construction. Warmington officials also agreed to inject “bioremediation” chemicals into the aquifers below the construction site, to break down any TCE contaminating the water.

The goal of the project is to build 22 rowhouses and four single-family homes on a site that formerly held an RV park and motel.