Second cleanup ordered at Miami schools
Sheila K. Stogsdill
Published: February 12, 2003
MIAMI, OK Taxpayers will pay for another cleanup of lead-tainted soil at two Miami elementary schools.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency ordered two playgrounds cleaned again, reversing its declaration three months ago that a government contractor's cleanup was adequate, school officials said Tuesday.
Miami schools Superintendent Bill Stephens reported Monday to the school board that he received an e-mail from Mike McAteer with the EPA saying lead-mining waste, commonly known as chat, would be removed from the Nichols Elementary and Washington Elementary playgrounds, which still showed elevated lead levels.
Contractor CH2M HILL spent the summer removing, replacing and cleaning soil and chat at five Miami schools and one administration building after government tests showed high lead levels on the playgrounds.
Soil in Ottawa County especially in a 40-square-mile area known as Tar Creek became contaminated during mining operations from the early 1900s until the 1960s. Chat was used as fill material for driveways and in local playgrounds.
Research shows elevated lead can result in learning deficiencies and other health problems in children. Studies conducted by Harvard University and confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention document high blood-lead levels in children living in the Tar Creek area.
After the summer cleanup, two Miami elementary school teachers hired a private engineer to take soil samples from the playgrounds. The results showed the soil continued to test above the EPA's recommended limit.
An EPA spokesman said the standards used by the private engineer to measure lead in the soil are more stringent and are not used by the agency.
Stephens, the state Environmental Quality Department and an Ottawa citizens group, the Local Environmental Action Demanded Agency, sent letters to the EPA. The letters acknowledge the sites didn't meet the criteria and the residents' blood-lead levels were a concern, Stephens said.
Most of the children spend more time at the schools' playgrounds than at home, said Earl Hatley, president of the citizens group.
"It was a standoff between the EPA and DEQ, and the children were held hostage," he said.
Hatley said the hazards associated with the high levels of lead were creating a liability for the schools, and the school board did the right thing in following through.
Cleanup is scheduled to begin March 17, and costs to clean the school grounds are not to exceed $10,000, Stephens said.
"We are really glad the EPA is going to step up and do the right thing," Hatley said.
The EPA has spent nearly $100 million in a two-decade cleanup of the Tar Creek Superfund site.
Archive ID: 1161722
