A Santa Clara County-commissioned research launched Wednesday discovered that soil samples taken at Reid-Hillview Airport in San Jose didn't comprise lead ranges that exceed native, state or federal requirements.
The outcomes paint a clearer image of the extent to which lead has contaminated the Evergreen neighborhood airport because the launch final August of an airborne lead research ordered by the county that concluded youngsters who reside round Reid-Hillview have elevated ranges of the contaminant of their blood.
The most recent research examined soil from 32 areas unfold throughout the airport. Scientists took samples from Reid-Hillview’s floor as much as six inches deep within the soil — after which from one foot to 18 inches deep. Related analysis was performed at San Martin Airport, the opposite county-owned airport 23 miles south of Reid-Hillview.
“Outcomes of this research decided that whole lead was not detected above San Francisco Bay Regional Water High quality Board Environmental Screening Ranges, (Environmental Safety Company) Regional Screening Ranges, or California Complete Threshold Degree Focus set off values in any of the soil samples collected throughout investigations at both airport,” the research states.
The very best focus of lead at Reid-Hillview was present in a dry soil pattern on the nook of Cunningham Avenue and Capitol Expressway, at 46.7 milligrams per kilogram. The pattern fell under native, state and federal hazard ranges which vary from 50 to 800 milligrams per kilogram.
Katharine Hammond, an publicity knowledgeable and professor at UC Berkeley’s College of Public Well being, stated she isn’t stunned with the soil pattern outcomes and that they don’t contradict the August airborne research’s findings.
Particulate matter popping out of an engine like an airplane is so gentle, Hammond stated, that contaminates will probably not choose the bottom however get blown exterior of the airport’s fast neighborhood.
“Think about you took a handful of sand, that are pretty huge particles, and also you held your hand in the midst of a eating room desk and threw the sand up within the air,” Hammond stated. “Most of it might be on the desk or across the desk. However should you took a handful of smaller particles like flour and threw it up within the air, it'll be everywhere, not simply on the eating room desk.”
Hammond stated additionally it is probably there are some soil samples that exceed those discovered on the nook of Cunningham and Capitol Expressway. She defined that when sampling is performed throughout a tract of land, there are normally areas that comprise increased quantities of contamination not included in an evaluation.
The brand new soil research is sure to accentuate debates surrounding the deliberate closure of Reid-Hillview Airport.
Proponents of the closure declare that the airport’s piston-engine airplanes, which nonetheless rely closely on leaded gas, current a well being hazard to surrounding residents and that the realm might be higher and extra safely used for much-needed housing.
However opponents of the closure view the lead hazard as overblown, saying the contamination is attributable to different sources and that proposals for housing are merely a land seize.
A replica of the soil report was offered to this information group after a public information request asking for the research’s outcomes went unanswered for weeks. The contract for the report was $130,000, in keeping with County Government Jeff Smith. The analysis was performed by Jacobs Engineering, a Dallas-based agency.
District 2 Supervisor Cindy Chavez, who known as for the August lead research and is a driving pressure behind closing Reid-Hillview, had not learn the brand new soil research and was not instantly accessible for remark, a spokesperson stated.
In Might, underneath the course of Chavez, San Jose-based nonprofit group Latinos United for a New America started canvassing the encircling neighborhood of Reid-Hillview to coach residents concerning the county’s airborne lead research from August. As well as, the nonprofit’s representatives will “promote the significance of wholesome habits for lead prevention, refer residents to guide testing sources, and determine residents fascinated by additional data and future engagement alternatives.”
Efforts to shut Reid-Hillview have been underway for many years. Extra not too long ago, county supervisors voted in 2018 to cease offering federal grant dollars to the airport, which is able to result in Reid-Hillview’s closure in 2031.
After the August lead research got here out, county officers stopped offering leaded gas at Reid-Hillview and San Martin in the beginning of this yr in an effort to cut back additional contamination, a transfer that was criticized by Federal Air Administration officers who felt that county officers hadn’t consulted them.
The county’s airports now solely promote unleaded gas. Nevertheless, many airplanes can solely run on leaded, which has led to pilots refueling at surrounding Bay Space airports earlier than touchdown at Reid-Hillview or San Martin.
In February, county officers knowledgeable the Eastridge Little League that they needed to go away their baseball diamonds at Reid-Hillview in response to the August blood lead research. The baseball league, which has been taking part in on the fields since 1972, will vacate the location June 28, in keeping with league president Johnny Cisneros.
Cisneros is at the moment in talks with the county to obtain funding via 2025, however he stated he’s uncertain whether or not he’ll comply with the phrases, placing the league’s future in limbo.