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Department of Ecology News Release - January 10, 2002
02-007
OLYMPIA - Pierce County will get a clearer picture of the extent of arsenic and lead in its soils, thanks to a $1.65 million grant from the state Department of Ecology.
Low levels of arsenic and lead contamination are thought to be spread over as many as 200 square miles in Pierce and King counties. Officials believe this was caused by decades of smokestack emissions from the former Asarco copper smelter.
The funding will allow the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department to determine the concentration and patterns of the plume's footprint. The health department will start by developing a soil sampling plan and then collect and test soil samples from properties in northern Tacoma and western Pierce County. Based on this information, a sampling plan for child-use areas will be designed and implemented.
The funding, which is generated by a state tax on petroleum and waste materials, is to be spent during the next two years.
"The size of the area we'll be sampling is very large. We're taking it one step at a time and plan to keep community members informed as we go," said Steve Marek, the health department's environmental-health program manager.
"It took many years for the arsenic contamination to build up, and it will take many years for us to find it and educate people about how to avoid coming in contact with it," said Marian Abbett, who manages the Tacoma Smelter project for Ecology.
Marek emphasized arsenic detected from past sampling indicates that the health threat to people in the smelter plume area of Pierce County is small and not imminent.
"We are concerned about long-term exposure to low levels of arsenic and lead-contaminated soils, especially for children" he said. "We all deserve to live in a healthy environment, and we believe everyone should be made aware of the possibility of contact with environmental contaminants."
High levels of arsenic can cause cancer, and lead can cause developmental disabilities in people. Children up to age 6 are most at risk for exposure to arsenic and lead because they can ingest soil while playing.
Together, Ecology and the county health department are promoting steps, such as hand-washing and leaving shoes on doorsteps, so people can protect themselves against arsenic and lead exposure.
Pierce County's work is part of a multi-agency, statewide effort to find out where and how much lead and arsenic soil contamination there is throughout Washington. The goal is to protect the health of people who live and work in contaminated areas.
Complete health-protection guidelines about soil contamination from the Tacoma Smelter plume can be found on Ecology's Web site by clicking Community Protection Measures: Guidelines for Reducing your Exposure to Contaminated Soil at http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/tcp/sites/tacoma_smelter/ts_hp.htm.
To receive information by mail, call Frank DiBiase at the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, at 253-798-7674, or Molly Gibbs at the Department of Ecology, at 360-407-6179.
Media contacts: Sandy Howard, Department of Ecology, 360-407-6239Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
