Wa: Arsenic, lead taint soils at many 'child-use areas'

[Guest guest]

The photo's caption states " soil arsenic levels slightly exceed state

standards " . My experience is that " regulatory " agencies that determine

" safe " levels tend to avoid synergism with other toxins and turn away

from the fact that some indivduals, even among infants and toddlers,

have excessively increased susceptibility - ie, invididuals for whom

" safe " levels are not at all safe. Increased susceptibility can be

acquired and/or genetic. Although the article focuses upon two counties,

the principle delineated in the article probably occurs in many other

locales.

[map on url]

Arsenic, lead taint soils at many 'child-use areas'

Fallout from Asarco smelter in Pierce, King counties

Monday, November 29, 2004

By DEBORAH BACH

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/201529_arsenic29.html

TACOMA -- Margaret Schumacher feels sick when she thinks about the

children at her in-home day care center digging and playing in

arsenic-tainted soil.

Schumacher dug up her yard four years ago to lay down grass and minimize

the mess from dirt. At the time, she had no idea that tests would find

high levels of arsenic -- the legacy of the Asarco smelter that operated

three miles away for almost a century.

" Here I was, digging away and it was all dusty, " she said. " It didn't

even occur to me about the arsenic in the soil. These kids would pick up

handfuls of it and throw it in the air. It wasn't our daily activity,

but that's what kids do. "

Eighteen years after the Asarco smelter in Ruston closed, residents of

neighboring communities are just starting to learn about the potential

health risks posed to generations of children. Those dangers, tests

show, still exist.

The state Ecology Department, which estimates that the copper smelter

spread arsenic and lead over a 400-square-mile swath of King and Pierce

counties, is conducting a study of contaminants in soil at day care

centers, preschools, parks, camps and playgrounds. The study is focusing

on gathering places for children under 6 -- the most vulnerable group

for health risks caused by environmental poisons.

So far, soil has been tested at about 160 " child-use areas " in the two

counties. The results show clusters of contamination on Vashon and Maury

islands -- where one out of four sites had elevated arsenic levels -- as

well as Normandy Park, University Place and Tacoma's North End.

Half the Tacoma day cares and preschools tested had arsenic levels

exceeding the limit. The dirt in Schumacher's yard was up to three times

the safety threshold.

High arsenic levels were also found at seven parks -- four in Pierce

County and three in King County -- and at seven public schools -- two in

Highline, one in Federal Way and four in Tacoma.

Health officials found the highest single concentration -- 691 parts per

million -- at 450-student Point Defiance Elementary in Tacoma. The

state's health limit for arsenic in soil is 20 ppm.

The level triggering cleanup efforts statewide is 100 ppm, but in the

Ruston area, Asarco isn't on the hook for cleanup unless the

contamination is more than double that. Lead was found in elevated

levels in only a few of the sites tested so far.

An additional 500 sites have been identified for testing in Burien,

Federal Way, SeaTac, Normandy Park and Des Moines. Public Health --

Seattle & King County is contacting property owners to request access,

and test results are expected next year.

The initial results are disturbing, said Gregg Small, executive director

of the Seattle-based Washington Toxics Coalition.

" Lead and arsenic are two of the most toxic substances on the planet, "

he said. " The science is very clear about the impact that lead and

arsenic can have on children. "

The findings have spurred some fixes, including a cleanup at Point

Defiance Elementary. Tacoma Public Schools spent $70,000 replacing soil

in the school's baseball field and paving a dirt-and-gravel playground,

said Ken , an environmental specialist for the district.

Contaminated areas at the other three Tacoma public schools -- Downing,

Wainright and Whittier elementaries -- are either below the trigger

level, or in the case of Wainright, in a forested spot where children

aren't permitted to play, said.

No corrective work was done at the schools, which have a combined

enrollment of more than 1,000 children.

State officials say determining the risk posed to children is tricky, in

part because contaminated soil on many properties is covered with

gravel, wood chips or grass.

One of the preschools tested, at Skyline Presbyterian Church in Tacoma,

had arsenic levels of 429 ppm, but an Ecology official said the

preschool doesn't have an outdoor play area.

" They keep the kids indoors, " said n Abbett, who oversees Ecology's

testing and cleanup efforts in the area. " It's good news that they

haven't been exposed. "

Skyline Presbyterian did not return phone calls last week.

With Asarco facing $1 billion-plus in cleanups nationwide, Ecology

realized the difficulty of holding the company financially responsible.

Not wanting to penalize innocent property owners, the department waived

the provision of the state's Model Toxics Control Act requiring owners

to be held liable for cleanup, regardless of who caused the contamination.

In the early 1990s, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Ecology

Department approved a deal that makes Asarco responsible for cleanups

within a one-mile radius from the Ruston smelter only when arsenic

levels in soil are severe -- 230 ppm or higher. State officials have

since expressed regret at the agreement.

The current testing is voluntary, and there are no legal requirements

that schools, day cares and other property owners notify parents of

potential risks or clean up their tainted soil.

Ecology is instead taking an educational approach, providing kits with

nail brushes, educational videos and pamphlets to sites with elevated

arsenic or lead levels.

Health officials in King and Pierce counties have used various methods

to get information out -- meeting with parent groups, mailing

information to residents, posting educational billboards.

" There are probably half a million parcels of land that are potentially

affected by this, and we've made a decision not to require cleanup of

all the property owners, " Abbett said.

Stu sen, president of Washington Parents for Safe Child Care, is

critical of that approach.

" It's like putting a Band-Aid on cancer, " he said. " It's a dereliction

of duty by the state. Washington state covers the licensing of child

cares, and there's an implied warranty of safety by the state under the

licensing rules. "

In Pierce County, more than half the property owners approached by the

health department, which is conducting the tests on behalf of Ecology,

declined to participate. Many of those were church-based preschools and

in-home day cares.

" Some people definitely just didn't want to know, " Abbett said.

Of the 194 sites in the county identified for sampling, access was

granted to 72. After eliminating sites that were paved over or no longer

used by children, the list was whittled down to 56.

Metro Tacoma Parks denied access for testing at its 100 parks. The

financially strapped public agency wanted Ecology to guarantee that it

wouldn't be held responsible for any cleanups.

Parks Board President Pointer said Metro Parks closed wading pools

and discontinued maintenance at a dozen parks last year because of

insufficient funding. Earlier this month, a $60 million bond issue

targeted for park operations failed to pass.

" We didn't want to get ourselves in a position where we had to start

putting up signs saying, 'Parks closed because of dangerous conditions'

without having any help from anybody for any cleanup that might have

been required, " Pointer said.

An expert on environmental toxics condemned that stance.

" It's unethical, " said Gilbert, director of the University of

Washington's Institute of Neurotoxicology and Neurological Disorders.

" It's not being socially responsible. "

Small, of the Toxics Coalition, said testing in the smelter plume zone

should be mandatory.

" I do have sympathy for day care centers and schools, because they did

not create the problem, but not looking to figure out if there's a

problem in your particular area is simply putting your head in the sand,

and that's not a responsible way to act, " he said. " All child-use areas

need to be tested to find out how serious the problem is. "

Asarco has established a $100 million national cleanup fund, some of

which is paying for cleanup around the Ruston smelter. About 1,400

properties within a one-mile radius of the smelter have been cleaned up

since 1996, including Point Defiance Zoo, and there are 1,000 more to go.

Mollenhauer runs Our Inn-Spiration II Preschool and Child Care

Center in a tidy, single-story brown house about a half-mile from the

smelter in Ruston, which supplied most of the nation's arsenic for decades.

The center's main room looks out to an expansive yard that Mollenhauer

believed was safe when she took over the business from her mother in

1998, two years after Asarco tested the soil. Arsenic levels of up to

180 ppm were measured -- nine times the state standard, but too low to

require Asarco to clean up the property.

Mollenhauer was disappointed to learn that the cleanup levels in the

area were raised.

" We have 94 children at our center right now, and it would be nice to be

covered, " she said. " If (Asarco) wants to show that they care about the

health and welfare of children, this would be the place. "

Ecology will cover half the cost of cleanup work for public facilities

contaminated by the smelter, such as schools and parks, but Abbett said

she doesn't know of any grants available to owners of day cares,

preschools or private schools.

Carmela Micheli said she plans to cover the bare soil outside her north

Tacoma preschool and kindergarten with sod at a cost of about $3,500,

after she renegotiates her lease.

The soil outside Arcadia Montessori tested slightly over the limit for

arsenic, and Micheli said she's vigilant about hygiene.

" We do constant hand-washing, " she said.

Arsenic in soil is typically transmitted through hand-to-mouth contact

and poses a double danger for toddlers, who frequently put dirty fingers

in their mouths and who, because of their small size, ingest

disproportionately higher levels of contaminants than adults.

A naturally occurring element in the Earth's crust, arsenic is primarily

produced as a byproduct of copper and lead smelters. It is a toxic that

causes cancer of the skin, lungs, bladder and kidneys.

Tainted soil can be covered with pea gravel or other materials,

providing a less costly solution than soil removal but only a temporary

fix, said Jim White, a state Health Department toxicologist.

" Eventually, the homeowner is going to want to plant some trees or

plants, " White said. " Children like to dig into dirt, so the cover won't

last very long. Contaminated soil will come back to the surface, where

people will be exposed to it again. "

For Point Defiance Elementary Principal Olga Lay, precautions have

become a fact of life.

Teachers ensure that children wash their hands after playing outdoors,

mats are in place by all entrances to wipe shoes, and the school

district acted quickly to clean up soil after the test results were in,

she said.

Some parents were " pretty hot " when they first learned of the school's

test results more than a year ago and wanted teachers to keep their

children indoors, but Lay, a mother of two young sons, refused.

" We chose to live in this area, and there's no way I'm going to keep our

children from being outside. I'm not going to lock them in, " she said.

" I would hope we've solved some of the problem, and we're having kids

take care of what they need to take care of. It's a safer place for them

now, I think. "

ARSENIC TEST RESULTS

* Fact sheets on arsenic and lead, information on soil testing and

Health Department contacts in Pierce County are available at

www.tpchd.org/eh/Arsenic/Update0802.htm

<http://www.tpchd.org/eh/Arsenic/Update0802.htm>.

* For King County information, visit

www.metrokc.gov/health/tsp/arseniclead.htm

<http://www.metrokc.gov/health/tsp/arseniclead.htm>.

* For state test results, go to Ecology's Dirt Alert!

<http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/printer2/www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/tcp/sites/%20tac\

oma_smelter/ts_hp.htm>

Web page:

.

<http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/photos/photo.asp?PhotoID=54958>

Meryl Schenker / P-I

{photo caption} Crystal Wan, 3, stands in the playground at

Arcadia Montessori in Tacoma, where, the state says, soil arsenic

levels slightly exceed state standards.

P-I reporter Deborah Bach can be reached at 206-448-8197 or

deborahbach@...

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