The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is moving forward with more cleanup of lead in East Helena residential yards following the closing of a public comment period.
The federal agency said Friday in a news release it finalized what is called an "explanation of significant differences" document that lowers the soil-lead cleanup level at the East Helena Superfund Site from 500 parts per million to 400 ppm. The new language also removes the 1,000 ppm cleanup action level previously used to trigger yard cleanups at the site.
The federal agency made the determination following a 30-day public comment period.
Explanation of significant differences documents are used by the EPA to modify existing cleanup plans, in this case, the 2009 Record of Decision (ROD) for Residential Yards and Undeveloped Lands in East Helena.
"Both formal and informal public comments were overwhelmingly in favor of the proposal to reduce the soil-lead cleanup level to 400 ppm," the news release states. "With the ESD finalized, EPA will now solicit contract support to initiate yard cleanups later in 2024."
"Reducing exposure to lead, especially for young children, is one of EPA’s top priorities," Region 8 Administrator KC Becker said in the news release. "Lowering the cleanup level for yards in East Helena will enable us to complete new cleanup actions that will further protect the community from potential exposure to lead and its harmful health impacts."
According to the CDC, protecting children from exposure is critical because no safe blood lead level in children has been identified.
Previous cleanup efforts led to the remediation of hundreds of yards in East Helena, which involved the removal and replacement of residential soils contaminated by more than 100 years of smelting at the former ASARCO plant.
"A better understanding of the health impacts associated with lead exposure, especially for young children and pregnant people, has recently led EPA to reassess acceptable levels of soil-lead contamination at Superfund sites across the country," the EPA said.
The EPA also recently released national guidance lowering the screening level for soil-lead in residential yards to 200 ppm, or to 100 ppm if there are multiple sources of lead contamination.
"Site project managers use screening levels when determining cleanup levels, taking into account Site-specific information on the bioavailability of contaminants and other factors," the news release says. "This means that, in addition to conducting cleanups under the ESD, EPA will now be assessing what the new national soil-lead guidance means for the East Helena Site."
The agency says implementation of this updated guidance "will only expand the number of residential properties qualifying for cleanups, and that EPA’s whole-yard approach to yard cleanups moving forward will not require multiple cleanups for qualifying properties."
Health impacts from lead can be permanent. Finding and removing sources of lead from environments, especially where young children live, learn and play, is key in preventing exposure.
Parents concerned about potential lead exposure can help reduce harmful impacts by talking to their child’s doctor and getting connected to learning, nutritional and behavioral programs.
For more information, refer to CDC’s Recommended Actions Based on Blood Lead Level.