As you may know, Washington state has a serious arsenic and lead soil contamination problem due primarily to pollution from Asarco's smelters and historic use of lead-arsenic pesticides used in agriculture. This has left a nearly 500 square mile radius of soil contamination of varying levels.
This contamination raises serious public health concerns. Arsenic and lead have both been linked to health problems, particularly in young children. According to the Department of Ecology, arsenic has been linked to more than 30 different health problems, including five types of cancer (bladder, lung, non-melanoma skin, liver, and kidney), impaired nerve functioning, and liver damage. Children exposed to lead may suffer reduced intelligence, delayed motor development, behavioral problems, and impaired hearing. Adults exposed to lead may suffer kidney and reproductive problems. These are two very serious metals that have major health impacts, even at very low levels.
One thing that is important to understand are the various levels established for lead and arsenic. There are three basic levels- background levels, clean-up levels, and trigger levels. Background levels are the best guesses as to the natural levels of the metals in soil. Clean up levels are the levels established in MCTA (the state Superfund law) for clean up. These are the levels at which clean up should occur in the ideal world. Trigger levels are the levels set by Ecology at which action should definitely occur. Ecology argues that these levels are based on science, but in reality they are based on politics and economics. The levels are:
| Level |
Arsenic |
Lead |
| Background |
7 ppm |
10 ppm |
| Clean up |
20 ppm |
250 ppm |
| Trigger |
100 ppm |
700 ppm |
Many of the tests already completed show levels above the clean up level but below the trigger level. For example, 31 of 55 schools tested tested in King and Pierce Counties have individual sample levels above 20 ppm.
In the ideal world, Asarco would pay to solve this problem. Unfortunately, Asarco has left a similar legacy of pollution across the country, and is in serious financial straights. As a result, taxpayers have been left with a bill to solve a problem that somebody else created. While some additional funds may be recovered from Asarco, the prospects of major money coming in are in doubt.
Ecology has done quite a bit on this issue already, most notably:
- Conducting a large number of soil samples for heavy child-use areas, namely schools, parks, and child-care centers. According to Ecology, they have already conducted extensive tests of schools and parks (child care centers, as you know, are being tested on a voluntary basis). Marian Abbett with Ecology claims that all heavy child-use areas have been or will soon be tested.
- Conducted extensive testing to determine the overall footprint of the contamination. In other words, how big of a region has been contaminated?
- Done extensive educational outreach, although not enough.
