10/11/05 Don`t eat the dirt

The community I live in is spending 1 million dollars to scrape the surface dirt off of two grade schools because the department of ecology has decided that lead in the soil remaining from lead arsenate orchard spray used in the 30's and 1940's has the potential to harm children. Where are the children that have been harmed? The lead count in the soil in is in parts per billion, and when I spoke with someone from the EPA lead hotline I was told a child would have to consume shovelfuls of dirt to be considered at risk. For generations children where have played in schoolyards, orchards and backyard that contain lead in the soil without any ill effects, in fact no one could provide any documentation of a child with elevated levels of lead from orchard dirt. I don't know of many school age children that physically sit on the play ground and consume dirt but I become physically sick when I think about all the school programs or teachers salaries a million dollars could fund. Source: Wenatchee World 9/20/05 Get the lead out why?http://www.epa.gov/lead/leadinfo.htm