Arsenic and lead: Dirty words at schools

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Playgrounds at two Yakima elementary schools are getting a blanket of clean dirt this summer to cover soil tainted with lead and arsenic deposited decades ago.

But similar work planned for several other area schools could be several years away.

Like many Central Washington schools, Gilbert and Robertson elementary schools were built atop former orchards where arsenic and lead were sprayed as pesticides from the turn of the century to the early 1950s.

Work at the two schools -- which began June 15 shortly after students were released for the summer -- is on schedule to finish before classes resume Sept. 1, according to Mark Dunbar, a site manager for the state Department of Ecology's toxics cleanup program.

"The process involves tilling the existing grass sod to break it up, then the application of a geotextile fabric barrier over the old soil," he explained.

Work at other schools will have to wait.

"We can only do work in the summer when the kids are out of school," he said. Otherwise, "it would just cause too much of a distraction. There's heavy equipment involved."

Long-term exposure to lead can cause brain damage and neurological problems, while arsenic is believed to be linked to cancer, according to the state Department of Health.

"It's not an immediate health risk if (schools) wait another summer. We want to be careful and cautious, but it's been there for so long it's not urgent," said Valerie Bound, a Yakima supervisor in the Ecology Department's toxics cleanup program.

Of the more than 100 Central Washington public schools tested for the contamination, about 35 were found to levels surpassing state guidelines.

In the Yakima School District, four schools are listed by the state as needing soil work: Barge-Lincoln, Hoover, and Whitney elementary schools and Wilson Middle School.

Also listed are Apple Valley Elementary in the West Valley School District and Terrace Heights Elementary in the East Valley School District.

Scheduling is a concern, particularly on the part of the school districts, Bound said.

Summer school, summer sports and other summer activities might need to be rescheduled or relocated.

"They have to shuffle athletic schedules," Bound said. "They have to accommodate construction workers. Sometimes, they have bond issues."

West Valley School District voters vetoed a $28 million bond proposal earlier this year. The money would have been used to rebuild two elementary schools, including Apple Valley.

"We will run the bond levy again," West Valley Superintendent Peter Ansingh said Tuesday. "The date hasn't been set or determined at this point."

But when it is, Ansingh said, "we would address the soil."

Meantime, "Our position is the kids are not as risk at this point, as long as we don't stir it up," he said.

At East Valley, Superintendent John Schieche was out of the office Tuesday and couldn't be reached for comment.

Of the Yakima schools tested, Gilbert had the highest levels of both arsenic and lead (204 parts per million of arsenic and 1,019 ppm of lead). State guidelines set limits at no more than 20 ppm of arsenic and 250 ppm of lead.

Tests results at Apple Valley School in the West Valley district were similar to those at Gilbert: 124 ppm for arsenic and 1,083 ppm for lead.

Plans for the schools call for an 8-inch layer of clean soil atop a permeable fabric barrier. At Robertson, crews will spread approximately 5,000 tons of clean soil. At Gilbert, it's slightly more, about 5,100 tons.

After the clean dirt is applied at both schools, a portion will be covered with sod, so students have a place to play when school starts. Another portion will be hydroseeded, ready for use by fall 2010, Dunbar said.

The cleanup cost for both schools totals more than $500,000, which is paid by the state's Soil Safety Program.

* Adriana Janovich can be reached at 509-577-7653 or ajanovich@yakimaherald.com.