(The following article by Nancy Gaarder was posted on the Omaha World-Herald website on May 10.)
OMAHA, Neb. — The Union Pacific-funded community group that is monitoring cleanup plans for Omaha’s lead-contaminated yards wants the federal government to shift gears and do something more comprehensive than simply digging out tainted soil.
And Union Pacific has said it is willing to “put together a substantial contribution” to make that happen.
Lead, after all, can be found in paint throughout homes in eastern Omaha. One of the group’s worries is that if lead paint isn’t taken care of, it eventually will recontaminate yards. Another concern is that children will continue to get lead poisoning from deteriorating paint.
“What good does it do if we don’t do this in a comprehensive manner?” asked Cheryl Weston of the Lead Safe Omaha Coalition. “(The government’s plan) is not going to eliminate the problem.”
Learn moreLead Safe Omaha Coalition meets from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Omaha Teacher Administrative Center, 3215 Cuming St., Room 5062.
Community Advisory Group meets at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Omaha Small Business Network, 2505 N. 24th St.
Comprehensive programs have been used in other communities, including Leadville, Colo. Rebecca Thomas, the Environmental Protection Agency’s project manager in Leadville, said the program there has been “working very well.”
The amount of lead in children’s blood in Leadville dropped by 36 percent from 1996 to 2002, based on children tested.
The EPA has agreed to consider aspects of a comprehensive plan for Omaha.
“We think it’s a great idea,” said Steve Sanders, an attorney for the EPA. But, he said, it’s an idea with a big hurdle: money.
Even though the EPA has said it may end up spending $100 million on Omaha’s cleanup, Sanders said that money has to be used for a soil program and can’t legally be used for a paint program.
The offer that Union Pacific has communicated to the EPA is not enough, he said, to fully fund a comprehensive approach.
Neither the EPA nor the railroad would divulge the amount of money that U.P. has placed on the table. The two parties are in legal negotiations.
“We are willing to, and want to, put in a substantial amount of money to get it started,” said John Bromley, a spokesman for Union Pacific. “We are not going to fund the whole program but want to get it in a position to get started.”
Leadville was able to undertake a comprehensive plan because Asarco, a metals processing company, has accepted liability for the contamination there.
In Omaha, Asarco also has been named by the EPA as the primary company responsible for industrial contamination of soil. But Asarco has not agreed to accept primary liability in Omaha.
Union Pacific also is one of the companies that EPA believes shares responsibility – something U.P. disputes.
“We’ve had two decisions to make,” Bromley said. “Are we going to spend a lot of money fighting this legally or do we want to spend the money getting it solved?”
Union Pacific, he said, has chosen the latter, which is why it decided to fund the community group and why it is supporting a comprehensive approach.
The next step is for the EPA to unveil its cleanup plan, which it hopes to do in June. Once that is done, there will be a period of public comment before the agency finalizes the plan. Once the plan is finalized, the EPA will step up negotiations with potentially liable parties.
As it stands now, the EPA’s Omaha plan is likely to be simple. Dirt would be replaced in highly contaminated yards. In moderately contaminated yards, the EPA hopes to neutralize the lead by mixing in the mineral phosphate.
The Leadville program involves going house-to-house to check for a variety of lead hazards, including lead in paint, dust, soil and tap water.
The program is voluntary and uses incentives to encourage participation. For example, each child who gets his blood tested for lead gets a $50 savings bond. Families receive a $25 grocery certificate for getting their kids tested. There are no incentives for soil or house tests.
Because the Leadville program is voluntary, yards are tested only if families give permission. Currently, in Omaha, the EPA has said it intends to require testing of every yard in contaminated areas of town.
Another significant difference is the standard used to decide which yards require cleanup. In Leadville, yards are cleaned up when lead levels exceed 3,500 parts per million.
In Omaha, the current expectation is that the EPA will set a cleanup standard somewhere below 1,000 parts per million. Whatever that standard ends up being, Sanders said, it won’t be loosened even if a comprehensive approach is selected.
A comprehensive plan for Omaha was presented to the community group by MFG Inc., an environmental firm that U.P. has hired to advise the group.
MFG also runs the Leadville program for Asarco.
Connie Determan, senior engineer for MFG and one of the original authors of the Leadville program, said the idea is to provide Omaha with options.
“This is just another alternative that is out there – that has been very effective at other sites,” she said. “Communities should get as much information as they can, and make the best decision – that’s what we’re offering.”