158:
evaluation of the site found that soil lead levels as high as 6,700 ppm were still present in the park, as well as zinc levels in excess of 7,450 ppm, and arsenic levels in excess of 700ppm. The evaluation also found that residential properties within seven blocks of the park also had significantly elevated levels of lead, in some cases as high as 10,000 ppm. (84% of houses in the area were built before 1950, and were thus extant while the battery plant was still operational.) Elevated levels of lead, presumably from the park, were also found at a nearby elementary school. Although much of the contamination in these areas was likely due to the park, lead paint and leaded gas from nearby highways probably contributed to the contamination as well. An additional series of actions were taken by joint local, state, and federal agencies between 1993 and 1996 aimed to remediate the park and surrounding residential properties. The park reopened in 1996, and cleanup of all nearby residential properties with a soil lead concentration >1000 ppm was performed by AlliedSignal (the owner of the plant, and its final completion was agreed to by the EPA in 2001 in a way that absolved AlliedSignal of any future liability.
199:. As part of its earthquake relief efforts, the federal government allocated some $ 700 million to reconstruct the viaduct, with its route shifted somewhat to the west into another pre-existing neighborhood. A variety of community groups led by the Church of the Living God Faith Tabernacle and the Clean Air Alternative Coalition filed suit against the federal government in 1993 in an effort to require the reconstruction of the viaduct to reposition it in a way that would minimize its effect on the surrounding community, arguing that its suggested placement would have a disproportionate effect on predominately minority communities, including placing a heavy load of lead and other pollutants on them. The lawsuit was not successful, but an out of court settlement did somewhat alter the placement of the reconstructed freeway.
59:
150:
that broke open used batteries and melted their lead to manufacture new batteries, while the top half of the site was occupied by a greenhouse. Both properties were acquired by the City of
Oakland in 1976, and, after two actions aimed at removing lead contaminated soil, the park opened to the public in 1978. Before the initial city removal actions, testing found as much as 100,000 ppm lead in the soil of the park.
133:
operations heavily contaminated the surrounding area with a variety of compounds, included chlorinated solvents, vinyl chloride, dioxins, PCBs volatile organic compounds, arsenic, manganese, and significant quantities of lead. Some of these compounds have either contaminated nearby properties, seeped into the ground water, or both. The facility has been declared a federal
116:, closed in 1999, is significantly polluted by a variety of substances, including lead. Sources of lead contamination include the weathering of lead-based paint, repainting vehicles, leaded gasoline, and other factors. During the time period when the Army was remediating the base, many areas of the base failed to meet their remediation goals.
132:
station. From the 1960s until 1989, bulk chemicals were off-loaded from a rail spur onsite and stored in drums and storage tanks before being transferred to smaller containers for resale. Bulk chemical storage facilities included 12 aboveground tanks, two underground tanks, and numerous drums. AMCO's
66:
Oakland was a center of heavy industry but much of this industry left the city during the 1980s and early 1990s. This loss of a large number of well-paying blue collar jobs led to a significant decline in the financial situation of many
Oaklanders, and most of the closed manufacturing plants did not
38:
have soil lead levels far in excess of 400 ppm, the level at which the US EPA suggests remedial action be taken, and far higher than 80 ppm, the level at which
California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment suggests action should be taken. Not all areas of Oakland are affected equally:
191:
that ran through a 1.6 miles (2.6 km) stretch of
Oakland, bordering South Prescott. The viaduct had been routed through a socio-economically depressed neighborhood originally, and during its construction community groups raised objections that it would destroy an existing vibrant neighborhood,
140:
Soil lead levels both at the AMCO site itself and at many nearby residential properties exceed safety limits, and pose a threat to human safety. Most other contaminants stemming from the AMCO plant have not spread as widely as the lead has. As with most other lead contaminated areas, other sources
149:
Verdese Carter Park is a municipal park at the corner of 96th Avenue and
Bancroft, in the Elmhurst district of East Oakland, a primarily African-American and Latino community where most residents are below the poverty line. Between 1912 and 1975 the bottom half of the site was occupied by a plant
86:
was in widespread use in the United States for much of the 20th century, with lead levels gradually being reduced starting in the early 1970s, and leaded gasoline finally being completely banned in 1996. The use of leaded gasoline contributed greatly to lead contamination in
Oakland, especially in
166:
South
Prescott is a hundred year old neighborhood in West Oakland; due to past industrial activity and leaded gas neighborhood soil averaged 800 ppm lead before a major EPA-led cleanup. Some of the most contaminated areas of the neighborhood had soil lead levels in excess of 2700 ppm. The EPA-led
157:
lead a drive to force the government to evaluate the safety of the park, after a yellow-white substance had begun to ooze out of cracks in basketball courts in the park. Later that same year, the City of
Oakland fenced off the park and began testing the area, the EPA was also involved. The EPA's
93:
were commonly used in
Oakland until its ban in 1978, and as many as 85,000 still extant houses built in Oakland in that time period likely used lead paint. Paint chips or dust from pre-1978 paint contributes greatly to lead pollution in Oakland. A variety of lead paint abatement programs are
192:
and suggested that a freeway route would not be proposed in a similar way in a wealthier community. Since leaded gasoline was not banned in the US until 1996, traffic through the original viaduct resulted in neighborhoods surrounding it becoming heavily contaminated with lead.
50:, including severe gastrointestinal, neuromuscular, and neurological symptoms. These problems are especially significant in children, and childhood lead poisoning can lead to behavioral problems, developmental disorders, and permanent decreases in IQ.
736:
Wesolowski, Jerome J.; Flessel, C. Peter; Twiss, Suzanne; Stanley, Ronald L.; Knight, Melton W.; Coleman, Gordon C.; Degarmo, Thomas E. (1979). "The
Identification and Elimination of a Potential Lead Hazard in an Urban Park".
563:
Mielke, Howard W.; Laidlaw, Mark A.S.; Gonzales, Chris (1 September 2010). "Lead (Pb) legacy from vehicle traffic in eight California urbanized areas: Continuing influence of lead dust on children's health".
43:, and many of Oakland's poorer neighborhoods also suffer disproportionately (since residents often lack the socioeconomic resources to remediate their lawns, or even to repaint their houses).
153:
These removal actions were ineffective at making the park safe, particularly because the protective dome the city installed had not been maintained or checked and had cracked. In 1993, the
175:, a compound that is harmless even if it is ingested. The cleanup successfully remediated around 95% of residential properties in South Prescott, as well as all public right-of-ways.
75:
is the fourth busiest port in the United States in terms of container traffic, and Oakland was also historically one of the largest rail hubs on the west coast of the United States.
945:
955:
239:
304:
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219:
331:"Assessing soil lead contamination at multiple scales in Oakland, California: Implications for urban agriculture and environmental justice"
919:
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Oakland has long been a center of industry, serving for a time as home of the main Pacific Coast Chevrolet auto plant.
422:
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before shutting down, leaving many former industrial areas heavily polluted with lead and other contaminants. The
247:
68:
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184:
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689:
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available in Oakland run by local governments and non-profits, but most have been of limited impact.
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35:
26:
in modern Oakland comes from three primary sources: remnants from previous industry, deposits from
23:
915:
872:
762:
754:
581:
478:
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113:
40:
601:"A CENTURY OF WILLFUL NEGLIGENCE How the Lead Paint Industry Has Poisoned America's Children"
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573:
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27:
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Asphalt nation : how the automobile took over America, and how we can take it back
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451:
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577:
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West Oakland's contamination is especially severe, particularly near the former
475:
Temescal legacies : narratives of change from a North Oakland neighborhood
82:, and extensive highway development began to take place starting in the 1950s.
90:
758:
134:
585:
766:
715:"Superfund Site Overview Verdese Carter Park, Pacific Southwest, USA EPA"
168:
871:(2e ed.). Berkeley, Calif. : University of California Press.
394:"A caution for Oakland's urban gardeners: lead in the city's soil"
57:
670:"Final Report. Appendix F: Institutional Frameworks case Study".
542:"Superfund Site Overview Amco Chemica, Pacific Southwest, US EPA"
124:
There was formerly a large chemical distribution facility run by
892:
Jones, Arthur (26 March 1993). "Put no freeway in my backyard".
129:
128:
at 1414 3rd Street, just one block south of the West Oakland
22:
represents a serious and persistent public health threat.
305:"EPA fails to revise key lead-poisoning hazard standards"
672:
Washington State Area-Wide Soil Contamination Task Force
423:"Oakland's Industry Disappeared—and So Did Middle Class"
187:
was an unconventional raised two-tiered portion of the
141:
of lead exist, such as lead paint and leaded gasoline.
240:"Battling lead contamination, one fish bone at a time"
16:
Excess lead in soil and water of Oakland, California
864:
625:"Final Environmental Baseline Survey for Transfer"
274:"Ghost Factories: Smelting and Lead Contamination"
46:High blood levels of lead have been linked to a
195:The viaduct was extensively damaged during the
8:
785:"To Nullify Lead, Add a Bunch of Fish Bones"
946:Environmental justice in the United States
858:
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956:Environment of the San Francisco Bay Area
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171:to convert elemental lead in the soil to
155:African American Development Organization
914:(1. publ. ed.). London: Routledge.
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329:McClintock, Nathan (1 November 2012).
34:. Significant portions of the City of
836:"West Oakland Lead Cleanup Completed"
87:areas of the city near its highways.
7:
783:Barringer, Felicity (20 July 2011).
78:Oakland was also an early center of
421:Payton, Brenda (8 September 2010).
392:Thomas, Madeleine (12 April 2013).
809:Seltenrich, Nate (5 August 2011).
477:. Oakland, Calif.: Shared Ground.
211:in the U.S. from battery recycling
167:cleanup used ground up bones from
14:
690:"Verdese Carter Community Garden"
610:. Oakland City Attorney's Office.
450:. Port of Oakland. Archived from
739:Archives of Environmental Health
566:Science of the Total Environment
368:MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia
578:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2010.05.017
303:Young, Alison (10 March 2013).
238:Young, Stephanie (2012-07-09),
48:wide variety of health problems
751:10.1080/00039896.1979.10667442
1:
912:Global ethics and environment
220:Superfund sites in California
20:Lead contamination in Oakland
448:"Port of Oakland – Maritime"
347:10.1016/j.apgeog.2012.10.001
197:1989 Loma Prieta earthquake
972:
894:National Catholic Reporter
248:United States Coast Guard
69:environmental remediation
951:Lead poisoning incidents
863:Kay, Jane Holtz (1998).
811:"How safe is your soil?"
215:Lead poisoning epidemics
209:Exide lead contamination
30:, and paint chips from
910:Low, Nicholas (1999).
185:Cypress Street Viaduct
63:
501:. EPA. Archived from
499:"Leaded Gas Phaseout"
473:Norman, Jeff (2006).
61:
941:Oakland, California
244:Coast Guard Compass
145:Verdese Carter Park
36:Oakland, California
692:. City of Oakland.
64:
54:Historical context
24:Lead contamination
572:(19): 3965–3975.
335:Applied Geography
114:Oakland Army Base
108:Oakland Army Base
91:Lead-based paints
41:Oakland Army Base
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364:"Lead poisoning"
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341:(1–2): 460–473.
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272:Eisler, Peter.
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179:Cypress Freeway
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84:Leaded gasoline
73:Port of Oakland
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28:leaded gasoline
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12:
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5:
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789:New York Times
772:
745:(6): 413–418.
728:
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630:. MWH Americas
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608:The Legal-EASE
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505:on 3 June 2008
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398:Oakland North
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126:AMCO Chemical
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32:leaded paints
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843:. Retrieved
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792:. Retrieved
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719:. Retrieved
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546:. Retrieved
507:. Retrieved
503:the original
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456:. Retrieved
452:the original
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430:. Retrieved
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372:. Retrieved
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338:
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312:. Retrieved
308:
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286:. Retrieved
282:the original
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256:, retrieved
252:the original
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173:pyromorphite
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139:
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111:
103:West Oakland
89:
77:
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19:
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427:Bay Citizen
112:The former
80:car culture
935:Categories
226:References
845:11 August
820:11 August
794:11 August
759:0003-9896
721:10 August
634:11 August
548:10 August
509:11 August
458:11 August
432:11 August
403:11 August
374:10 August
314:11 August
309:USA Today
288:11 August
278:USA Today
258:11 August
135:superfund
586:20542539
203:See also
67:perform
678:. 2003.
169:pollock
918:
875:
767:518121
765:
757:
584:
481:
137:site.
841:. EPA
839:(PDF)
815:Grist
717:. EPA
628:(PDF)
604:(PDF)
544:. EPA
370:. NIH
916:ISBN
873:ISBN
847:2013
822:2013
796:2013
763:PMID
755:ISSN
723:2013
636:2013
582:PMID
550:2013
511:2013
479:ISBN
460:2013
434:2013
405:2013
376:2013
316:2013
290:2013
260:2013
183:The
130:BART
120:Amco
747:doi
574:doi
570:408
343:doi
937::
902:^
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787:.
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761:.
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743:34
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366:.
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339:35
337:.
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676:B
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
