Lead Safe Schools MKE is calling on the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to require Milwaukee Public Schools to take action on lead found in a soil sample at the Golda Meir School Lower Campus.
The push comes after one of three soil samples the Milwaukee Health Department took on Jan. 18 tested above the DNR’s residual screening level.
The tests were part of a full lead risk assessment taken after a child tested positive for elevated blood.
Samples that test above that level prompt the department to investigate whether further action is warranted to avoid exposure, said Trevor Nobile, remediation and redevelopment field operations director at the DNR.
After evaluating the samples alongside other site-specific information in consultation with the Milwaukee Health Department, the DNR has determined the soil does not currently pose a risk of lead exposure, Nobile said.
“The levels identified were not high enough to indicate widespread soil contamination or to be actionable under the statutes we are required to follow,” Caroline Reinwald, marketing, communications and public information officer for the Milwaukee Health Department, said in an email to NNS.
Several MPS schools were closed last year after tests identified lead hazards. Tests at Golda Meir School Lower Campus identified high levels of lead dust, although the school remained open.
Over the summer, lead remediation work was completed at 50 MPS schools. Advocates called on MPS to be more transparent about its efforts to address lead in the future.
Concerns about lead in soil
In June, Lead Safe Schools MKE founder Kristen Payne submitted a complaint to DNR highlighting three soil samples the Milwaukee Health Department took when it originally screened the campus for lead exposure risks earlier this year.
Two samples (12 and 75 parts per million) tested significantly below the DNR’s screening level for lead, but a third tested at 260 parts per million. The threshold for further investigation is 200 parts per million.
Payne, whose child goes to Golda Meir, worries that children could get exposed.
“My child runs around on that play area where the lead was found,” Payne said. “We know that means that the kids are tracking that lead right back into that building.”
Call for responsible party letter
Lead Safe Schools, a group that advocates to protect children from lead exposure, wants the DNR to issue a responsible party letter, which the department issues when there is evidence of hazardous material releasing into the environment.
“Send a responsible party letter and open an investigation, get more samples and find out the extent of the contamination,” Payne said.
A responsible party letter would require MPS to hire a consultant to define the degree and extent of contamination and remediate if necessary, Payne said.
Doug Cieslak, an environmental consultant who worked at the DNR for 30 years, said it’s important to have routine monitoring at all the schools that were remediated for lead.
“If there are lead sources at the properties, whether they’re inside the buildings or outside of the buildings, that those are identified and managed so that there’s not an opportunity for an exposure,” he said. “That takes diligence, it takes routine monitoring.”
Low exposure risk, officials say
After consulting with the Health Department and reviewing information about the site, the DNR won’t issue a responsible party letter at this time, Nobile said.
Nobile said the DNR doesn’t send a responsible party letter based on one data point. Instead, when a test shows lead levels above their 200 parts per million residual screening level, the department uses it as a starting point to investigate further.
When the DNR originally received the complaint, Nobile said it reviewed the other two samples and saw they were below the department’s screening level.
Nobile said the DNR then consulted with the Milwaukee Health Department to ensure the property didn’t previously have a hazardous land use that could have contributed to widespread lead in soil.
According to Nobile, hazardous use could include a smelting operation or former rifle or gun range where lead was used frequently. Samples could also test high because of a residual lead paint chip tracked from somewhere else that isn’t throughout all the soil.
No further action from DNR
In lead poisoning cases, Reinwald said the Milwaukee Health Department samples soil in places like play areas and near drip lines to assess the risk of lead exposure. The higher the concentration of lead in the soil, especially near areas where children play, the higher the assumed risk of exposure.
Since the sample in question was below the Milwaukee Health Department’s action level – 400 parts per million, in line with state Department of Health Services regulations – and the play area is not near building drip lines, Reinwald said it didn’t meet the state’s criteria for further action.
Nobile said after consulting the Health Department, the DNR has decided no additional action is needed at this time.
MPS Chief Communications Officer Tony Tagliavia said the district has a plan to address grounds outside schools by minimizing areas with bare soil.
“Milwaukee Public Schools and Lead Safe Schools MKE both value our students’ health and safety, and we will continue to meet and address the group’s concerns as best as we can,” Tagliavia said in a statement to NNS.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
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