by Tom Kruzen, Ozark Chapter Mining Chair
“Sometimes,” I told a fellow lead-fighter, “You win on your issue one fingernnail at a time.” She was commiserating that progress in fighting the lead industry seems to move in millimeters. I told her I knew that the wheels of government move, indeed, slowly. In July, I had filed a Sunshine Law request of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) over the possible re-occupation of the homes in Herculaneum that were purchased by the Doe Run Company in the last two years. These homes were highly contaminated with heavy metals and were deemed unfit to live in.
Doe Run CEO Jeffrey Zelms had met with MDNR Director Doyle Childers requesting that Doe Run be allowed to re-occupy those homes, even though they still remained contaminated. I requested all documents and communication between MDNR and Doe Run on this issue. I sent a hard copy and an electronic copy to MDNR on July 28, 2005. The Sunshine Law states that the agency involved must respond to such a request within three working days. I waited three weeks for my response which told me that my request might not be answered until the last week in September! Of course I was disappointed that it was taking so long—even disgusted. Either Childers and Zelms had written volumes on this matter or there was deliberate obfuscation occurring on the part of the state.
What I did not count on was that once in a blue moon magic works for you; the zodiac lines up and the universe gives you some freebies. It turns out that just this week, Doe Run withdrew their request to re-occupy the Herky homes. Was this because my Sunshine request was breathing down their necks, or was it because they had come to their senses? The answer to that may never come out, but I’ll accept the outcome. No home re-occupation and no new folk at risk. Score one for the white hats!
The answer may also lie in several other things that had recently happened in Leadland. Two weeks ago a St. Louis University Study Team performed the first independent study of contamination in Doe Run’s smelter town in the Andes—La Oroya, Peru. Doe Run employees and supporters assaulted the study team headed by St. Louis University professor Fernando Serrano. Eggs, stones and death threats were their greeting on the first day. After a short huddle and self-examination, the study team decided to stay, despite the fact that Doe Run propaganda was portraying the team members as “vampires!” The study was complete beyond expectations when La Oroyans came out of the woodwork to participate in the study, saying they were ashamed of the way the study team was treated. This venture promises to expose horrendous lead and other heavy metal contamination in this Andean town of 30,000, much of it continuing because Doe Run has managed to avoid its responsibility in cleaning up. The Giddings-Lovejoy Presbytery’s “Joining Hands Against Hunger,” the Catholic Diosese of Huancayo Province, St. Louis University, Oxfam America, and the Sierra Club have all worked together to help the people in La Oroya—people who, just like the folks in Herculaneum, live next to a heavy metal smelter. This was the second block of good news in the land of Goodness.
I did explain to my activist friend that, in the world of activism, sometimes bad news is good news. Bad that La Oroya is poisoned, good that the truth will be coming out in this study. Doe Run’s intimidation failed to keep people from participating.
Another bit of bad news came out this week for the lead industry. It appears that 36 wells in the Old Leadbelt near Potosi are contaminated with lead beyond the 15 parts per billion that the EPA allows in drinking water. Some levels were as high as 92 ppb. Cherri Baysinger from the Missouri Department of Health and Human Services said that, generally, lead in water poses a less serious health risk than chipping lead paint which can more easily enter the bloodstream. (Baysinger follows a tradition in the MHDSS to downplay the effects of lead. Lead in either form is not recommended for human consumption.) David Mosby, who works in the Missouri Department of Natural Resource's hazardous waste program, said the wells may never be able to produce lead-free water. Along with the ongoing clean-up of contaminated roadsides and yards in the Old and New Leadbelts, this is bad news for the lead companies like Doe Run and good news for the champions of health and clean environments. It supports our premise that lead production is a dirty business and all too often contaminates people and the places in which they live.
Finally.
Bad news: Doe Run’s air monitors in Herculaneum failed to show compliance at the current standard of 1.5 micrograms of lead per cubic meter. (1.5 µg/m3)
Good news: The National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for lead was established over two decades ago when the blood lead standard was 25 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood. The air standard was based on the old blood lead standard. In 1990 the federal blood lead standard was reduced to 10 µg/dl. And a spate of new research indicates that lead level as low as 2.3 µg/dl can cause damage in the body.
Earlier this year the Washington University Law Clinic, under Maxine Lipeles, the Missouri Coalition for the Environment, and Jack and Leslie Warden of Herculaneum sued the EPA in Federal Court to challenge the current NAAQS standard for lead. The current standard was set in 1986 and, according to law; the EPA was to review this standard every five years. The EPA has yet to review the air standard in almost two decades—even in the light of new knowledge about the effects of lead. Two days ago, Federal Judge Richard Webber, found for the plaintiffs and against the EPA. This significant decision forces the EPA to do its job of reviewing standards for lead by May 8, 2008. Should a new, stricter standard be agreed upon, every lead production facility in the nation, including Doe Run, would have to fall into compliance. This could prove to be bad news for Doe Run, which obviously has trouble meeting the current standard. This story is not over.
Fingernail by fingernail of hard work and with a little help from the Universe, the lead industry will have to come to terms with the dangerous poison they have cavalierly spread all over Missouri and the nation. So I looked at my friend and said: “At least for this week, the score is:
Good guys: | 4 |
Bad guys: | 0 |