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Department of Ecology News Release - May 21, 2003
03-094
OLYMPIA - There is no health concern at any elementary schools tested for lead and arsenic in King and Pierce counties, and following soil-safety guidelines such as hand-washing and shoe-wiping will help reduce the risk of exposure to contaminated soils.
Only one school in the 55 tested showed soil contamination levels high enough for immediate attention. That was at Point Defiance Elementary School where the Tacoma School District fenced off part of a play yard heavily used by children.
The Point Defiance Elementary play area's highest average arsenic for a play area was 114 parts per million (ppm). The highest single concentration found at the school was 691 ppm, but it was in an undeveloped area not frequently used by students or the school. The state's arsenic cleanup level is 20 ppm, but its trigger level for recommending immediate action is 100 ppm.
While more than half of the 55 schools tested have some arsenic levels above the state cleanup levels, only eight of the schools tested had play areas with average levels of arsenic above the state cleanup level.
The results are from a Department of Ecology (Ecology) study of soil contamination in playgrounds and schoolyards that may have received air pollution fallout from the former Asarco copper smelter in Ruston, near Tacoma. Results from parks and child-care centers should be available in late June.
"Over all, our results are basically good news," said Steve Marek of the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department. "We continue to work with the schools because our best defense for children is through personal hygiene practices. Schools, children and parents will be hearing more about what they can do through an outreach campaign."
The Tacoma School District has announced a special meeting about Point Defiance Elementary's soil contamination at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 29, at Point Defiance Elementary, 4330 N. Visscher St., Tacoma. The meeting is open to anybody who is interested.
"The arsenic levels at Point Defiance Elementary were not much of a surprise, since it is the closest school to the former smelter," said Marian Abbett, manager of the Tacoma smelter-plume project for Ecology.
"We are being proactive and fencing off the area in question at Pt. Defiance Elementary School until further studies can be conducted," said Patti Holmgren of the Tacoma School District. "We want to ensure the safety of our students and give them the safest environment possible in which to learn."
Elementary schools within the area affected by Tacoma smelter plume are being given advice about how to provide clean play areas for children, according to Ecology's Abbett. Options include placing rubber mats below playground equipment to cover contaminated soil or place a foot or two of clean soil, wood chips or shredded tires in play areas.
Ecology and the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department are working with the Tacoma School District to determine appropriate cleanup actions for the fenced area at Point Defiance Elementary.
Children are most vulnerable to health effects from contaminated soil because they are most likely to get dirt in their mouths.
In King County, soil samples were collected at 35 schools in the Federal Way, Highline, Tukwila and Kent school districts, and at three private schools.
In Pierce County, soil samples were taken at 17 public schools in the Clover Park, Peninsula, Steilacoom, Tacoma and University Place school districts.
Informational packets were delivered to all schools last week. Ecology is studying the extent of contamination from the smelter, along with Public Health Seattle-King County and Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
For more details about the study results and a list of the schools tested, visit Ecology's Web site (Note: Web site will be "live" on May 22): http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/tcp/cleanup/html. Dirt Alert, a 16-page brochure, can be downloaded from http://www.ecy.wa.gov/biblio/0309036.html
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Media Contacts:
Sandy Howard, Department of Ecology - Pierce County, 360-407-6239
Larry Altose, Department of Ecology - King County, 425-649-7009; pager,
206-663-1785
Patti Holmgren, Tacoma School District, 253-571-1015
Steve Marek, Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, 253-798-2955
Hilary Karasz-Dominguez, Public Health - Seattle King County, 206-296-4767
Soil-safety guidelines on the Web can be found at:
Public Health - Seattle King County:
http://www.metrokc.gov/health/tsp/arsenic.htm
Tacoma-Pierce Co. Health Dept.: (Original link removed 07/26/04; see
http://www.tpchd.org/page.php?id=111 added 01/18/05.)
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
