If you live around the corner from Bullseye Glass, the state says you can take that trowel off the shelf.
Dozens of soil tests taken at properties around Bullseye detected occasional spikes in several heavy metals, but overall averages were too low to raise health concerns, state health and environmental officials said this morning. High ranking staffers at the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) and Department of Environmental Quality (OHA) sat down with reporters to relay what OHA Director Lynne Saxton called “encouraging.”
The results from 67 soil samples—taken at Powell Park, the Fred Meyer headquarters, and a daycare near Bullseye—were analyzed for cadmium, chromium, and arsenic. Those metals have been at the center of community concern since early February, when the Mercury reported that air sampling near Bullseye last year found alarming levels of arsenic and cadmium. Bullseye and another Portland glass factory, Uroboros Glass, used the metals to infuse their products with color.
Health officials at this morning’s briefing showed an array of graphs detailing arsenic, cadmium, and chromium levels. Some showed soil samples that found elevated amounts of the toxics—that is, more than would be expected to naturally occur in Portland’s soil. Some even exceeded a DEQ “cleanup” benchmark for soils or levels set by the CDC. In particular, samples taken at a CCLC Daycare near Bullseye showed spiking amounts of the metals.
But the officials cautioned those readings only signaled a need for a closer look. OHA Toxicologist David Farrer insisted further examination of the samples, and an analysis of how people might come into contact with contaminants, suggested there’s no health risk. He went so far as to rescind a recommendation that people living within a half mile of Bullseye shouldn’t eat food from their gardens.
“Given these results we feel that gardening in the vicinity is safe,” Farrer said. “People can safely grow and eat their own produce.”
He added: “The bottom line is the concentrations of metals in soil are too low to harm anyone’s health.”
This morning’s message is potentially a relief to neighbors of Bullseye after weeks of concern over being exposed to heavy metals that the factory doesn’t filter from its exhaust. DEQ manager Keith Johnson explained at the briefing that “because soil can act as an accumulator over time…soil impacts should be fairly conclusive.”
The findings could also have sway in a class-action lawsuit against Bullseye, which accuses the company of being a nuisance by foisting pollution into neighbors’ yards.
But the sampling is only one step in an array of analyses state officials looking to tamp down concerns are undertaking. State Health Officer Katrina Hedberg said today that there are no indications that incidences of cancer are elevated near Bullseye or Uroboros.
She said the state has been collecting data on cadmium testing in urine since mid-February. Of 207 tests in Multnomah County, seven indicated detectable cadmium, Hedberg said. Two of those results were in children. She didn’t say whether the people tested lived near Bullseye or Uroboros.
Officials expect to release more information in coming weeks. Notably, they’ll unveil the results of air testing around Bullseye and Uroboros. Since those factories have voluntarily ceased using of cadmium, arsenic, and chromium, its likely the testing will come back far less alarming than the initial Bullseye tests.
MORE COVERAGE:
•The DEQ Nearly Pinpointed North Portland Glass Factory Pollution Seven Years Ago
•State Finds Alarmingly High Arsenic, Cadmium Levels Near Two SE Portland Schools
•Too Cozy? A DEQ Air Quality Official Apparently Vacationed With An Attorney Representing Industry
•Oregon DEQ Director Dick Pedersen Resigns Amid Air Pollution Concerns
•Bullseye Glass Has Suspended Use of Arsenic and Cadmium Because of Air Quality Concerns
•Essential Pollution Controls Lacking at Two Glass Plants Blamed For Cadmium Emissions