More Than Half the Homes in East Omaha Have Unsafe Lead Levels. That Doesn’t Mean the EPA Will Clean Them Up.

More Than Half the Homes in East Omaha Have Unsafe Lead Levels. That Doesn’t Mean the EPA Will Clean Them Up.

The EPA hasn’t reevaluated its cleanup guidelines for homes in a residential Superfund site in Omaha, Nebraska, in 17 years, despite research showing that even small amounts of lead can cause IQ loss in children and heart attacks in adults.

The EPA heralds its Omaha cleanup as a success, but many yards still have toxic levels of lead

The agency once spent hundreds of millions on lead remediation in Omaha. New soil tests by the Flatwater Free Press and ProPublica show yards still have harmful levels of lead.

Nebraska yards tested high for lead, but some homeowners were denied cleanup

An investigation by the Flatwater Free Press and ProPublica found that some Omaha, Nebraska, yards exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency's longtime lead-soil cleanup standard. But after residents asked for help, the response has been inconsistent.  What happened? The area has been dealing for decades with pollution linked to a lead smelter and other industrial sites. After independent soil testing by the publications, some people were off…

Hundreds of Omaha homes with unsafe lead don’t qualify for EPA cleanup

The EPA hasn't reevaluated Omaha, Nebraska, Superfund cleanup rules in 17 years, despite evidence that low lead exposure harms children and adults.