Thursday, May 10, 2012
Senators seek lead tests at old sites
Lawmakers cite threat to children
USA TODAY
Six U.S. senators called on the Environmental Protection Agency to immediately examine the health threats posed by forgotten factory sites featured in a recent USA TODAY investigation.
In a letter sent Wednesday to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, the senators urged the EPA to "take immediate action" to review unassessed sites and to set priorities for remediation, such as sites near schools or playgrounds. "It is necessary to ensure that people living near these sites, especially children, are safe," the letter said.
The letter was organized by Sen. Sherrod Brown and was also signed by Sens. Robert Casey, Jack Reed, Sheldon Whitehouse, Jeff Merkley, and Al Franken.
"These former lead smelter sites may no longer exist, but as USA TODAY has revealed, residual contamination continues to pervade many communities in Ohio and across America," Brown said in a statement, noting that several sites were in Cleveland and Cincinnati. "The EPA must move quickly to ensure that Ohioans living near these sites are aware of the potential hazards, and to place these sites on a high-priority list for remediation."
Casey said the EPA "must move quickly to ensure the children and people of Pennsylvania are protected. The residual contamination poses a serious public health risk to our children."
Courtney Warner Crowell, a Merkley spokeswoman, said the senator wants families living near contaminated areas to be notified and hopes that state and federal agencies will partner to clean them up.
In a statement, the EPA said it "shares the Senators' concern for protecting Americans' health. EPA is currently reviewing USA TODAY's sampling data and case studies and has already begun evaluating a number of the sites on the list to determine if they pose a risk to the surrounding communities -- we will continue to work with states and local partners to evaluate those sites."
A 14-month USA TODAY investigation, published last month, revealed that government regulators did little to investigate and protect the public from the toxic fallout that remains in soil around many of the hundreds of former lead factories, often called smelters, that operated during the 1930s to 1960s -- before environmental regulations. The EPA was given a list of the former factory locations more than 10 years ago. At dozens of sites, EPA investigators recommended soil testing to determine what risks remained, but at most of the sites, it was never done, the investigation found.
USA TODAY found evidence of smelting or factory work at more than 230 sites nationwide. The newspaper's tests of soil in 21 neighborhoods around former smelter sites in 13 states found dangerous levels of lead in many locations. The lead in the soil probably comes from a combination of sources, including factory emissions, the legacy of leaded gasoline use as well as flaking lead-based paint. Regardless of the source, the human body treats lead as a poison linked to lost intelligence, ADHD and other health problems, especially in kids.
The letter noted USA TODAY's finding that soil testing wasn't done -- as recommended -- at some sites. EPA "regional offices that were directed to test legacy sites either lacked the funds to do so or, unfortunately, did not communicate this possible concern to local public health or environmental officials."
Brown previously called for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to hold a hearing on what can be done. Kate Gilman, a spokeswoman for Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who chairs the committee, has said it will address the risk posed by lead at two previously planned hearings.
