Dangerous lead contamination found in 3 Durham parks: Walltown, East End, and East Durham
To: Brandon J. Williams <brandonjhudson@gmail.com>
Walltown Community Association wants to make its neighbors and the Durham community aware of new research that shows dangerous lead levels in three Durham public parks that were waste incineration sites until 1950.
A Zoom meeting to review the findings is scheduled for Monday, July 12 at 5:00 PM. All are welcome. Please spread the word.
Please plan to join a few minutes early: https://frontlinesol.zoom.us/j/2191850527?pwd=S0RlR0VNK2NmL2liMkdOMVJlcTBlZz09
Meeting ID: 219 185 0527
Online Passcode: 1g@+4p
Dial in: (646) 931 3860 US
Dial-in Passcode: 874580
Here's a summary of the main points of the December 2022 study by Duke University researchers Dan Richter and Eni Bihari:
- Lead levels in Walltown, East End, and East Durham Parks are dangerously high, especially in some highly-trafficked areas.
- Significant amounts of lead in the top surface soil makes risks to human health high. The surface-level soils are easily tracked into homes on shoes, clothes, and dogs’ paws, become a part of household dust, and are inhaled or eaten by children.
- Lead is likely high in Lyon Park and Northgate Park. Further testing is needed there and for surrounding homes and residents.
CHILDREN, PREGNANT/BREASTFEEDING, AND CHRONICALLY ILL PEOPLE ESPECIALLY AT RISK
- There is a direct relationship between soil lead and blood lead levels in children.
- There is no safe level of lead in children’s blood. Their growing bodies are especially susceptible to absorbing lead through their skin, breathing air, drinking water, and ingesting lead particles from soil, paint, and other common sources.
- Exposure to lead can cause damage to the brain and nervous system, slowed growth and development, learning and behavior problems, and hearing and speech problems.
- Lead accumulated in the body over time is also dangerous for adults who are pregnant, breastfeeding, or chronically ill.
WALLTOWN PARK FINDINGS
- The US Environmental Protection Agency sets lead standards. Clean soil is 20-30 ppm (parts per million). One hundred ppm is the maximum level for growing food you will eat, and 400 ppm is the maximum threshold for safety in residential and play areas.
- Walltown Park has multiple places where researchers found levels over 400 ppm, in one sample site up to 1138 ppm – nearly triple the safe amount for a recreation area.
- The creek, horseshoe pits, and basketball court areas had the most dangerous lead levels.
FURTHER TESTING AND GOVERNMENT ACTION URGENTLY NEEDED
Last week, the Walltown Community Association urged Duke University, Durham Parks and Recreation, the City of Durham, and the Durham County Health Department to initiate an action plan and allocate resources to address the lead contamination of these community spaces as a priority to ensure community safety.
Walltown Community Association asked for (see attached letter for full description):
The research team to prioritize community and government outreach in the next 30 days.
Immediate action by City of Durham to ensure public health and safety by closing the affected parks and engaging in public communication about the risk, until the parks can be remediated and monitored long-term.
A public apology and a written statement of Duke University’s commitment that ALL research conducted in communities is effectively communicated back to communities and partners promptly, with actionable next steps.
City to plan for and fund further research in the next 180 days– but not instead of immediate steps to correct the known problems in the three parks.
• The study reports that some 500 truckloads of lead-contaminated cinder and ash were relocated from the Walltown incinerator site to Northgate Park as it was being converted to a park. Several sites not sampled require action, including Lyon Park, Northgate Park, the newer incinerator site in NE Durham, and surrounding dump areas.
• Additional testing of existing sites (e.g. the playground at Walltown Park), surrounding homes, and an expansion of existing county-run blood testing of residents are needed.
The complete study is attached and can also be accessed from https://dukespace.lib.duke.edu/dspace/handle/10161/26369.
Send any comments to: WalltownCA@gmail.com.