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Omaha to Expand Battle Against Lead Exposure Union Pacific Contributes $500,000 to Eliminate Indoor Sources of Contamination.

Posted on: Tuesday, 20 September 2005, 21:00 CDT

Omaha announced Monday that it is expanding efforts to reduce lead exposure among children, with a $500,000 donation from Union Pacific serving to kick-start the private-public campaign.

Omaha's Healthy Kids Alliance is a new nonprofit organization charged with moving lead abatement beyond the federally funded yard cleanup to a more comprehensive approach to eliminating lead, Mayor Mike Fahey said. One of its primary charges will be reducing exposure from lead paint.

Eastern sections of Omaha are designated as a federal Superfund site, opening the way for the Environmental Protection Agency to move in with a $100 million-plus cleanup of contaminated soil. Hundreds of yards have been cleaned so far.

The Community Advisory Group, which is monitoring the EPA cleanup, has long maintained that Omaha also needs to address indoor sources of lead. That's where Omaha's Healthy Kids Alliance steps in, Fahey said.

The alliance still is in its formative stage. But once established, it is expected to provide education about contamination, as well as financial help for cleaning up lead not eliminated by the EPA.

Nebraska's congressional delegation is working to secure federal money for the effort. The City of Omaha also could qualify for grants. Any additional money likely will come from private charities and organizations, said Joe Bateman with Union Pacific.

The Omaha-based railroad has been identified by the federal government as a contributor to outdoor lead contamination. As a result, the EPA is demanding that Union Pacific pay a share of Omaha's yard cleanup. The two sides continue to negotiate the exact amount of Union Pacific's liability.

Bateman said his company's contribution to the new alliance was unrelated to its talks with the EPA. Union Pacific has always maintained that lead paint poses the greatest contamination risk. And this initiative addresses that problem, he said.

Other cities that have taken a similar approach to containing indoor contamination have seen lead levels drop dramatically among children, Bateman said.

Ten years after launching its lead abatement program, New York reported an 82 percent drop in new cases of children with elevated blood lead levels.

When Omaha officials accepted the Superfund designation, Fahey said, "we said it's all about the kids."

It still is, he said.

Source: Omaha World - Herald

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