The Omaha Lead Site is located in the Omaha metropolitan area including Council Bluffs, and Carter Lake, Iowa. The contamination has resulted from several businesses and manufacturing companies that used or processed lead at their facilities in the Omaha metropolitan area. ASARCO Incorporated (ASARCO) operated a lead refinery at 500 Douglas St. in Omaha for over 100 years beginning in the 1870s. The operation of the refinery ceased in 1997. As a routine part of the refinery operation, lead particles were emitted into the atmosphere at the refinery. In addition, the Gould Inc. lead battery recycling plant located at 555 Farnam Street in Omaha was a secondary smelter of lead from discarded lead batteries, closing in 1982. The blast furnace used to smelt the lead at the Gould plant emitted lead particles into the air from that smelter.
In May 1998, Mr. Frank Brown, President of the Omaha City Council, sent a letter to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requesting the assistance of EPA in addressing problems with lead contamination in the Omaha area. EPA initiated a process to investigate the lead contamination using CERCLA authority.
In 1998 the Omaha City Council asked EPA to look into why the Douglas County Health Department (DCHD) finds children with elevated blood lead concentrations more often in east Omaha than anywhere else in the county. EPA responded to this request by beginning an investigation using its authority under the Superfund Law. Most of this investigation has involved the sampling of soil outside of residential homes. Sampling of residential soil began in March of 1999 and is on going. To date, the EPA has tested the surface soils of 12,500 residential properties and has found that approximately 40% of those analyzed exceed EPA’s 400 parts per million (ppm) screening level.
EPA began sampling soil from child care facilities and selected residential properties in March 1999. Seventy-eight of the 364 licensed child care facilities tested have one or more non-foundation results greater than 400 mg/kg with a high concentration of 4,670 mg/kg. The locations of the 364 child care facilities are widely scattered over the Omaha metropolitan area (including Carter Lake, and Council Bluffs, Iowa). There are additional child care facilities that have not been sampled by the EPA. Efforts to sample these child care facilities are ongoing. Two hundred eighty-two residences with EBL were tested resulting in 134 yards exceeding 400 mg/kg. Sampling at residences with EBL are ongoing. Five hundred sixty-nine of the first 1,422 private residences tested have one or more non-foundation soil analytical results greater than 400 mg/kg lead. The EPA is continuing to sample additional residential properties.
EPA began excavation of lead-contaminated yards at child care facilities and EBL residences in the fall of 1999. To date, approximately 260 yards have been excavated and restored under EPA's Remedial Program as a time-critical removal action. In an effort to expedite the removal action, 32 day care facilities with lead concentrations above 400 mg/kg were excavated by the Emergency Response & Removal Services (ERRS) contractor. This work was overseen by the EPA's Removal Programs On-Scene Coordinators (OSCs) Dan Garvey and Eric Nold.
EPA has plotted the early results on a map of the Omaha metropolitan area and had it analyzed to identify any geographic trends. This analysis did reveal a geographic trend that shows surface contamination which gradually decreases with increasing distance from the downtown area.
EPA continues to test residential properties including the homes of elevated blood lead children (EBL children) and homes where licensed child care services are being provided. The testing of these properties is given priority over other types of residential properties.
In 2003, EPA expanded its residential soil sampling effort to further define the boundaries of contamination. EPA began the 2003 expanded soil sampling effort in May and has collected 10,000 soil samples from residential properties, including child cares and EBL residences. Collection of soil samples is ongoing and it is EPA’s goal to collect soil samples from 12,000 residences by the end of 2003.
Screening the soil samples for lead is also ongoing. As of October 27, 2003, 5711 of the 10,000 residential properties that have been sampled have had their samples screened for lead concentration. Approximately 41% of the screened properties equal or exceed the 400 parts per million screening level for lead. A more detailed summary of the screening results of the 5,711 screened properties can be found in the following table.
Minimum Concentration: Number of properties equal or above this concentrations screened during 2003 soil sampling event. Percentage of properties that have been screened.
Greater or equal to 2500 ppm 61 1%
Greater or equal to 1200 ppm 353 6%
Greater or equal to 800 ppm 808 14%
Greater or equal to 400 ppm 2358 41%
