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Show WASATCH MOUNTAIN TIMES |_ECO-LOGIC| Prospector Child Gets Lead Poisoning Tailings Monster Raises its Head Again By Christopher Smart en years after the federal Environmental Protection Agency first tagged Park City’s Prospector Square development for the Superfund cleanup list of environmental health hazards, a toddler has been identified as suffering from lead poisoning. But it isn’t known whether Tony Ivan Smith’s child is suffering potential permanent nervous system damage from exposure to old mine tailings, upon which Prospector Square is built, or from another source of lead, such as paint or plumbing What's more, the source of lead that has elevated the child’s blood-lead levels dramatically above those accepted by the national Center's for Disease Control, may never be known, according to one state health official Mr. Ivan Smith believes the lead poisoning was borne on dust from construction excavations near his house. “T had great concern about the large area of construction. I had great concern about the dust from the tailings in the “I’ve had eight or nine people complain to me that | was going to lower property values. But not one has asked how the child is doing.” — Tony Ivan Smith soils,” said Ivan Smith, who is a hazardous waste consultant But Park City officials say it isn’t likely that the lead poisoning is from dust blowing from unearthed tailngs. “It’s practically impossible that it was wind-borne,” said City Manager Toby Ross. “We haven’t seen any indication that there is a cause and effect here. But we are taking it seriously. . . ” High levels of lead were found, The Catering Frog Romantic Wedding Buffet for 200? For All Your Catering Needs, Let The Catering Frog Leap into YourKitchen! We may have a Foreign Accent, but so does Our food I Contact us Today for a Free Menu Presentation! Tel (801) 647-9768 © Fax (801) 647-9769 Ask us about our “Anniversary Special.” Experience Real Romanticism within your Home! Mention this ad and get 10% off! PAGE however, in the soils of the Ivan Smith property by Park City officials following his complaints. But whatever the cause, the leadpoising affair and the prospect of renewed EPA involvement has sent a shudder through this resort town, which banks on good publicity and a clean environment. During the mid-1980s, an outraged Park City government, led by then-City Manager Arlene Loble, enlisted Utah’s former senior U.S. senator, Jake Garn, to outflank state health officials and EPA bureaucrats. Loble and the Park City Council feared a Superfund listing would mark the ski town as a western Love Canal, driving away tourism, shattering the fagile business community, which in turn would erode the tax base. Garn, at the top of his power on the Senate Banking Committee and also a Park City resident at the time, succeeded in frightening Washington-based EPA officials, who were caught on camera running from Utah reporters. A bargain was then struck — Park City would provide its own mitigation — cover the tailings with six inches of top soil - and Prospector Square would not make the National Priorities List for Superfund cleanup. Two or three instances of high blood-lead levels in Prospector Square children during the mid-1980s were later said to have been caused by sources other than the tailings. Specifics on those statements were never made public. But during the flap, which dragged on for three or four years, property values in Prospector plummeted by as much as 40 percent. During the last six years, however, Prospector real estate has recovered as the tailings episode has faded. The tourist trade, on the other hand, seemed to suffer little from the affair with Park City recording significant increases in visitors and sales taxes each and every year. 12 But back to square one — the EPA now promises again to weigh in, hinting that perhaps it should have insisted on tougher mitigation measures in the first place. In a strongly-worded letter to Park City, EPA Region VIII Director Robert Duprey said other Prospector residents could be susceptible to lead poisoning from the tailings. “EPA fears that there may be many other contaminated properties which have yet to come into compliance with the Prospector ordinance. Such properties would also pose an unacceptable risk to residents. . .” Duprey also indicated that the voluntary aspect of Park City’s mitigation ordinance might have been a mistake. “Voluntary versus mandatory compliance with the Prospector ordinance was subject of debate during ordinance formulation in 1988. . . EPA strongly recommended that the ordinance include a mandatory compliance provision.” But Park City officials say no other people in the area have been shown to suffer from lead poisoning. “There is no question that there is lead in the soil,” the city manager said. “But none of the neighbors who were tested had any elevated blood-lead levAs for his part, [van Smith said he had no idea until now that his property had not been part of the tailings mitigation effort. In fact, Ivan Smith is right. Ron Ivie, Park City’s chief building official, said that more than half of Prospector’s properties have been mitigated with top soil coverage. He noted, however, that-lvan Smith’s lot had not been part of the special improvement district. But whether Ivan Smith’s family is exposed to tailings or lead solder in pipes, lead-based paint or other sources, will be very difficult, if not impossible, to pin down, said Brad Johnson, Superfund branch manager for the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Apparently, Park City and the EPA will now hammer out a new agreement for mitigation of Prospector properties. And as long as no other childrén are identified with high blood-lead levels, Prospector property values may remain on track with others in Park City, which continue on a meteoric rise. And that, apparently, is the chief concern in Prospector Square right now. ‘T've had eight or nine people complain to me that I was going to lower property values. But not one has asked how the child is doing,” Ivan Smith said. : ; :i i x 4' |
