Forum Seeks Transparency for Northport Area Soil Sampling
- Details
- Published: Thursday, 02 February 2023 22:47
In the fall of 2022, the Lake Roosevelt Forum submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to EPA for the soil sampling results of 218 residential properties that were tested in 2014 and 2016. These properties are outside the town of Northport but within the Upper Columbia Valley that extends east and west of the Columbia River from the U.S.-Canada border to China Bend (about 40 miles).
“Transparency is the reason” said Forum Executive Director Andy Dunau, “The red-hot real estate market has led to historic buying and selling of properties in the area, and many of the people buying are new to the area. The Forum wants to help potential buyers see the results of soil sampling conducted with federal government oversight.”
“Also,” said Dunau “in 2023 EPA expects to update the national standards for Residential Soil Lead Guidance for Contaminated Sites. As tighter thresholds for triggering cleanup are expected, the need for transparency becomes that much greater."
EPA, however, withheld identifying each property’s soil sampling data, “… because the disclosure of this information would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.” The United States Code cited [5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(6)] bases withholding information on a need to protect “… personnel and medical files and similar files the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.”
There was nothing in the Forum request that pertained to releasing personnel or medical files. Based on a Supreme Court ruling, however, EPA interprets “similar files” to include all information that applies to a particular individual. In this case, the parcel number or physical address of property sampled.
The Forum’s FOIA request and EPA response is available at https://bit.ly/3R5BCMq
STATE LAW REQUIRES DISCLOSURE FOR REAL ESTATE TRANSACTION
In December, the Washington Department of Ecology updated its Dirt Alert “Selling or Buying Land or a Home in the Upper Columbia River Valley?” The Dirt Alert is shared as an insert to this newsletter.
Said Ecology “Potential buyers have the right to know about possible hazards in their environment, and sellers are required to disclose information about their property.” Specifically, sellers of property must disclose on “Form 17” if the seller knows of any soil contamination, which includes metals and adverse materials defects. Further, Ecology states “A buyer cannot waive the right to Form 17 if the answer to any of the questions in the Environment section are 'yes'." The buyer can also ask the seller and realtor if they are aware of any soil testing for metals on or near the property.
EPA not sharing soil sampling data does not relieve property owners from the requirement to disclose potential soil contamination, and potential buyers may still request soil sampling results from the seller when purchasing. New and existing properties owners may also inquire with EPA whether their property has been tested and, if so, may request a copy of the results.
EPA STRATEGY TO REDUCE LEAD EXPOSURES AND DISPARITIES IN U.S. COMMUNITIES
In October 2022, the “EPA Strategy to Reduce Lead Exposures and Disparities in U.S. Communities” was released. The Forum’s Winter 2022 newsletter (https://bit.ly/3WIG4lA) reviewed the draft strategy.
A performance milestone of the strategy calls for the following: “By June 30, 2023, evaluate and revise the Residential Soil Lead Guidance for Contaminated Sites to protect communities by further reducing the potential for exposure to lead in soil.” Revisions to EPA guidance could impact the approaches taken to address contamination on residential properties within the Upper Columbia River site. In addition, EPA also is evaluating updates to Agency cleanup levels for lead-contaminated sites. The outcome from this evaluation could impact the total number of properties within the Upper Columbia River site that may be eligible for soil cleanup in the future.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recently reduced the level of blood lead considered to pose a minimal risk to sensitive human populations such as young children. The CDC’s updated blood lead reference value is now 3.5 μg/dL; this blood lead value assumes a person ingests, or is exposed to, soil that has a lead concentration of approximately 50 parts per million (ppm).
To date, higher lead levels, well above 50 ppm, have been used to trigger cleanup of contaminated properties through a phased approach. For example, EPA’s latest round of time-critical removal actions completed in 2022 focused on Northport properties with soil lead concentrations above 700 ppm. Properties with soil lead at or above 700 ppm were identified by EPA as posing the greatest potential risk to public health and thus prioritized for this round of cleanup.
LOOKING FORWARD
Since 2004, soil/yard cleanup work has been conducted at 76 properties in the town of Northport and surrounding area. These residential property cleanup activities have relied on voluntary agreements and special-purpose government funds while the public awaits completion of the Upper Columbia/Lake Roosevelt Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study (RI/FS). As discussed in the companion newsletter article “RI/FS Status Report,” progress on the RI/FS continues. However, the EPA’s Record of Decision identifying final cleanup activities for this Site is expected to be many years away. In the meantime, EPA continues to work with federal, state, tribal and local government partners to identify additional cleanup funding and resources. Additional soil/yard cleanup within and outside of Northport remains under consideration.