EPA checking lead levels in Picher after tornado

May 13, 2008 07:38 pm

— By Wally Kennedy
wkennedy@joplinglobe.com
PICHER, Okla. — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is checking for elevated lead levels in Picher after Saturday’s deadly tornado blew across chat piles before leveling houses and other buildings in the town.
Ed Keheley, a rural Picher resident, said chat was blown off the chat piles with such force that it sandblasted the paint off some houses in Picher.
Chat is a waste byproduct of the lead and zinc mining that took place over several decades in the Picher area.
The EPA spent more than $100 million in Picher in the 1990s removing lead-contaminated soil from hundreds of residential yards.
Keheley said chat is clearly visible in the soil where the tornado passed through the south and west parts of the town.
Long-term exposure to lead dust can pose a health risk, especially to young children.
The Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality also is recommending that recovery workers in Picher take precautions to minimize their exposure to lead-contaminated debris.
The department is recommending that workers wear dust masks and gloves when handling debris. The department also encourages workers to thoroughly wash their hands and faces after working in the debris. People should remove work boots and gloves and place them in a plastic bag before entering a vehicle or a home, the department said.
Workers should change their clothes and wash them separately from other clothing, state officials advise.