EPA Endangers Public Ignores Toxic Levels of Lead from Abandoned Factories

Susanne Posel
Occupy Corporatism
April 23, 2012

 

 

 

 

All across the New England area, Northeast and Northern Plains states, toxic abandoned factories loom in the bushes and trees of long ago. Abandoned railroads to nowhere lead to coal plants, soap mills, power plants, chemical factories and countless textile mills lost to the sands of time. There are no fences, no signs, and no clear evidence of the dangers that lie within these towns and the toxic remains that pollute the streams and rivers throughout.

Children, teenagers and young adults commonly explore these relics. Many don’t realize the dangers within, and even more fail to realize that for almost 300 years, these places have been spewing toxic chemicals for miles; often dumping their waste directly into the rivers and streams running right through their back yards. PCB levels are so high in places that there a number of animal mutations and Frankenstein like fish are found near these sites annually.

People are starting to demand an EPA response to the years of silence. Most often, the original business owners are long since deceased.
In places like Cleveland, Ohio, there are abandoned lead factories that once were responsible for heavily contaminating the areas around them with toxic lead dust. In the 30 or more years since these factories were operational, communities have been built up; homes where children live and play.
State regulators, along with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) failed to divulge this information to those families who live in these areas. Soil tests throughout these neighborhoods reveal high levels of lead contamination.

For more than a decade, this information has remained secret, known only to government officials. Hundreds of neighborhoods across the nation have yielded dangerously high levels of lead poisoning in soil samples.

Yet, federal officials did not disclose their knowledge to the public.

USA TODAY conducted a 14 month investigation that uncovered the cover up by the EPA that left thousands of families in the dark about the dangers they lived in. Four hundred smelter factories were listed by researchers. This list was given to the EPA in 2001.

Inspectors negated to order cleanups of contaminated areas.

USA TODAY cited:

Only after being exposed by the investigation did the EPA order the cleanup of smelter factories in 14 states.

Mathy Stanislaus, an EPA assistant administrator made this statement:

“EPA and our state and local partners have overseen thousands of cleanups, through a variety of programs. Unfortunately, some of the sites USA TODAY identified have not yet been addressed or investigated by EPA. EPA will review USA TODAY’s information to determine what steps can be taken to ensure Americans are not being exposed to dangerous levels of lead.”

As the EPA asserts they have made efforts to cleanup, their record-keeping about these projects in inconclusive.

Propaganda about the EPA’s commitment to these cleanups has been perpetrated by types like Elizabeth Southerland who is the director of assessment and remediation for the EPA’s Superfund Program. Southerland states, “I am convinced we have addressed the highest-risk sites. Absolutely and positively, we are open to reassessing sites that we now feel, based on your information, need another look.”

Ken Shefton lives in Cleveland with his 6 year old son who was diagnosed with having elevated levels of lead in his body. Shefton is upset about being lied to by omission by the EPA and the city of Cleveland. “Somebody needs to take care of this problem, or inform the people in this neighborhood,” he said.

William Eckel, environmental scientist, published an article in the American Journal of Public Health warning of this issue and admonishing state and federal regulatory bodies that have ignored the problem to the public’s detriment.

Eckel found over 400 abandoned smelter factories that were potential threats and virtually unknown to the EPA. Most of these areas are now playgrounds for children in densely populated areas.

Eckel’s article warned that the findings “should create some sense of urgency for the investigation of the other sites identified here because they may represent a significant source of exposure to lead in their local environments.”

The EPA caught wind of Eckel’s paper and asked him to send them a copy. Apparently their researchers are not as through as Eckel.

Bureaucratic excuses about lack of funding have surfaced by Southerland for the reason these sites were not taken care of previously. However, the evidence points to the EPA just not caring enough to check into sites and mandate the cleanups take place.

To save face, Southerland is not ordering the EPA to make sure the cleanups take place. The EPA is claiming that “particularly large cities . . . with historically high gasoline emissions from vehicles, aero deposition from industrial facilities and lead paint” are the combinations that led to the overall contamination. Cleanups are projected to be difficult.

In 2002 – 2003, the Ohio EPA tested 12 soil samples. All but one revealed unacceptable levels of lead toxicity. These samples were taken from neighborhoods where children play. The levels were as high as 5 times the acceptable limits.

The Ohio EPA stated that without a specific “polluter” to blame, they could not afford to clean up the site because it is the polluter that pays for the cleanup. The Ohio EPA stated, “There are no Ohio EPA monies set aside and dedicated for this type of cleanup. Our enforcement program focuses on responsible parties with the authority to legally compel them to fund cleanup.”

Meanwhile children are exposed to lead poisoning in their own backyards and no state or federal official cares enough to clean up the contamination for the sake of these children.

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