Virtual Public Listening Sessions on EPA's draft Lead Strategy to Reduce Lead Exposures and Disparities in U.S. Communities
Docket ID: EPA-HQ-OLEM-2021-0762
R7 Public Listening Session 
Date: March 3, 2022
Start Time: 6:00 PM CT (7 PM ET)
Record of Public Comments
(To view a recording of the listening session, please visit: https://youtu.be/yTMIEld56tY)

27:28
[Jonathan Garoutte, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services] Jonathan Garoutte: Hey all right, thank you very much and I thought I was going to give you one of those difficult names right off the bat so thank you, you got it right appreciate that.
27:36
Jonathan Garoutte: I'll just keep my comments short, of course, I see the clock running, I just wanted to really just wanted to say thank you to EPA for kind of creating this forum.
27:46
Jonathan Garoutte: To be able to hear from individuals throughout the Region, and specifically in Missouri on EPA draft draft lead strategy, I myself kind of appreciate the the opportunity to listen in.
28:00
Jonathan Garoutte: And so, my comments I suppose aren't as substantive or specific to the lead strategy as others might be more general.
28:09
Jonathan Garoutte: But I am of course interested in the focus on lead nationally and here in Region 7 and in Missouri, of course.
28:18
Jonathan Garoutte: As as you at EPA know Missouri both monitors child and adult blood lead levels and and we address those lead exposures from sources that are typical nationwide.
28:31
Jonathan Garoutte: Like lead based paint, through environmental risk assessments and case management for children with the EBLs -- elevated blood levels.
28:40
Jonathan Garoutte: and also for training and licensure of lead remediation professionals in the state, and then we also, of course, have traditional sources of lead in drinking water that is addressed by our partner agency at the Department of Natural Resources.
28:56
Jonathan Garoutte: And, and you know we also then have historic and both current
29:04
Jonathan Garoutte: lead issues, legacy risks from from lead industry within the state of Missouri that
29:12
Jonathan Garoutte: Regional Administrator McCollister alluded to earlier and and we've had a really good working relationship with EPA and other partners on addressing those lead industry legacy issues, so I just wanted to say that we appreciate this historical,
29:31
Jonathan Garoutte: the good relationship we've had with EPA and working on those. We look forward to continuing a approach on lead that's that's both science-based,
29:41
Jonathan Garoutte: driven by I guess I'd say big picture, a balanced approach and very focused on the community's needs. So really just wanted to say thank you for the opportunity, look forward to continuing to work with EPA in that way going forward so thank you.
30:22
[Karisa Gilman-Hernandez, Dutchtown South Community Corporation] Karisa Gilman-Hernandez: Wonderful. Thank you all so much for having this evening.
30:26
Karisa Gilman-Hernandez: I'm Karisa Gilman-Hernandez, my pronouns and she/her/hers and I work for Dutchtown South Community Corporation, and we serve the south side of St Louis.
30:35
Karisa Gilman-Hernandez: I wanted to share with you all, an experience I recently had by going to one of our public schools. There are signs on the fences, it says 'this fence may contain lead do not touch'.
30:48
Karisa Gilman-Hernandez: This is on a school with children. When I talked to teachers, they're concerned about the lead on the fences, they're concerned about the lead in the paint, and the water.
30:57
Karisa Gilman-Hernandez: All around them, the principals are concerned, parents, the school district itself, nobody doesn't take this seriously, however, there is a serious question about funds in order to
31:09
Karisa Gilman-Hernandez: address these issues. I'd like to see whatever plan the EPA comes forward with, include grants that school districts can apply apply to, to start working on the lead mitigation
31:23
Karisa Gilman-Hernandez: in these schools. I think that our public education is a great chance to just be of service to our children in this country and the best thing we can do for them is to ensure that they have a safe environment, and that means a lead-free environment.
31:41
Karisa Gilman-Hernandez: I don't have too much more to say than that, but I do appreciate this time and I hope
31:46
Karisa Gilman-Hernandez: whatever plans the EPA is making includes funding, because a lot of times we have things go forward, but without the money behind them, the school districts are just kind of stuck.
31:57
Karisa Gilman-Hernandez: Thank you.
32:20
[Gary Keller, Citizens Against Gillespie Expansion and Low Flying Aircraft] Gary Keller: Thank you Katie. I'm going to be talking about leaded aviation fuel. Currently there are about 20,000 general aviation airports in the US.
32:29
Gary Keller: All of these airports cater to planes still using leaded aviation fuel. A recent study by Dr Sammy Zahran at Reid-Hillview Airport in San Jose, California
32:41
Gary Keller: has proven not only that children who live near these airports have elevated blood lead levels,
32:47
Gary Keller: some of them higher than those found in the flint water crisis, but also that the 2008 EPA National Ambient Air Quality Standard for lead is 0.15 micrograms per cubic meter is still way too high.
33:04
Gary Keller: The childhood lead poisoning prevention branch of the California Department of Public Health has warned that children should not play or spend time near general aviation airports.
33:15
Gary Keller: Why isn't the EPA warning all parents with children who live near these airports?
33:21
Gary Keller: It is estimated that 16 million people, including about 3 million children, live within a kilometer of those airports. How many attend school or at daycare centers near these airports?
33:33
Gary Keller: Many or most of these children come from poor economic backgrounds.
33:38
Gary Keller: It doesn't really matter if a person breathes in, swallows, or absorbs lead particles, the health effects are the same. However, the body absorbs higher levels of lead when it is breathed in.
33:52
Gary Keller: Each year general aviation aircraft are responsible for 1 million pounds of lead emissions across the US.
34:00
Gary Keller: On an average, general aviation aircraft makeup 70% of all new airborne lead emissions in the US each year.
34:09
Gary Keller: Region number 7 puts out close to 43,000 pounds of, or 21 tons of lead, through the exhaust of general aviation planes each year,
34:20
Gary Keller: all for the breathing pleasures of our children.
34:23
Gary Keller: The Federal Aviation Administration believe federal entity for these issues is simply not equipped to meaningfully address the environmental justice and health equity challenges of emissions.
34:36
Gary Keller: The 2021 National Academy of Sciences study on av gas is woefully short of getting real recommendations for fixing the problems.
34:46
Gary Keller: The recent proposal by the aviation industry to work eight more years on finding a miracle fuel will mean 8 million more pounds of lead on our children.
34:57
Gary Keller: We don't need any more testing. We already have compelling results of elevated blood blood levels in children.
35:05
Gary Keller: I was watching in the early 1970s when the Clean Air Act and the EPA helped take away from automobile feel the lead.
35:14
Gary Keller: I am still watching 50 years later, and there is still limited feel being used, please put the 'P' back into the EPA and put a stop to this continuous poisoning of our children. Finish the job your agency started, thank you.
36:13
[Saul J. Lopez, City of Omaha] Saul J Lopez, City of Omaha: Thank you, my name is Saul Lopez, and I work for the City of Omaha. Specifically the lead -- the City of Omaha lead Superfund Site which is famous around the country for being the largest residential site.
36:28
Saul J Lopez, City of Omaha: Just wanna-- I just want to take the opportunity to highlight the
36:33
Saul J Lopez, City of Omaha: importance of working with community-based organizations here at the city level, we have tried and we have connected with
36:41
Saul J Lopez, City of Omaha: neighborhood associations and we're currently working on making sure that we connect with community-based organizations and my only request would be that if you could consider and
36:52
Saul J Lopez, City of Omaha: free grant monies for small community-based organizations that can help disperse the information
37:00
Saul J Lopez, City of Omaha: about this topic which is very important, specifically for those those low and medium income families that live in houses where children are exposed to lead based paint or lead in soil. I believe that there is
37:16
Saul J Lopez, City of Omaha: that having knowledge and understanding of the impact of lead exposure will help these families have access and
37:25
Saul J Lopez, City of Omaha: resources to avoid that problem for their children, and I believe that, at the same time, we have to do it in a manner, where they can be confident that information they get is in a
37:38
Saul J Lopez, City of Omaha: way that they can fully understand. For instance, we have worked with a Latino Community here in Omaha.
37:46
Saul J Lopez, City of Omaha: We have a large immigrant community of refugees as well, and we just want to make sure that that we reach out to all of these communities, but
37:55
Saul J Lopez, City of Omaha: I think one of the biggest challenges, and what I have what I have learned is that community-based organizations, they lack the funding opportunities to do their work. I would just highlight how important it is to have
38:09
Saul J Lopez, City of Omaha: projects like the community health worker where you will have people from their own communities to go in and talk and educate families
38:17
Saul J Lopez, City of Omaha: about the importance of this topic. So I just want to thank the EPA for the great work that is being done in regards to
38:27
Saul J Lopez, City of Omaha: lead exposures and minimizing lead exposures for families here in Omaha and in the country, but at the same time, I also want to request that the community health worker model needs to be given more attention and empower the communities that need help.
38:45
Saul J Lopez, City of Omaha: That'll be it for now.
41:46
[Miki Barnes, Private Citizen] Miki: Hello, can you hear me?
41:50
Miki: Thank you so much, and thank you for hearing my comments I've offered comments at a number of these meetings about concerns over lead pollution
42:00
Miki: by airports and piston engine aircraft, but tonight, I want to look at a different issue and that is, I spoke with a pediatrician this morning, who talked about the difficulty he
42:15
Miki: encounters when he's doing blood blood level testing on his children, his patients and the problem is that a number of labs don't measure lead
42:30
Miki: beyond a certain level, maybe
42:35
Miki: three micrograms per deciliter but you know when it gets down to two or one, and we know even those very low levels of lead, can have a negative effect on children, and adults. There's concern about how are we going to get accurate information on the
42:57
Miki: the
42:59
Miki: scope of this.
43:02
Miki: Lead poisoning and lead exposure elevated blood lead levels, without that kind of testing. And I'm wondering if the EPA through this lead strategy could identify labs who will measure that will measure blood blood levels, even at very, very low levels.
43:24
Miki: And have it be uniform across the country so that the data bank is accurate and captures what is really going on in this country and how many children and adults are really being exposed to lead.
43:40
Miki: The second concern, I want to raise is there's a lot of inconsistency medicaid requires children to be tested at age 12 months and 24 months, but a lot of states don't do that.
43:54
Miki:That we don't have the data bank of the testing, so it seems like it needs to be a federal requirement, rather than a choice of a state.
44:06
Miki: And, and I, you know I don't begin to understand the funding issues involved but lead is a serious serious toxin with potentially irreversible impacts so getting a handle on this by,
44:23
Miki: through required testing and through labs that can measure
44:29
Miki: lead even at low levels, I think is very important, so thank you so much appreciate your time.
44:51
[Madeline Middlebrooks, Great Rivers Environmental Law Center] Madeline (Great Rivers): Yes, thank you Hello everyone, my name is Madeline Middlebrooks and I'm a staff attorney at Great River Environmental Law Center based in St Louis, Missouri.
45:00
Madeline (Great Rivers): I work with various coalitions and community members, focusing on lead contamination issues in the State of Missouri, in the St Louis region, particularly.
45:08
Madeline (Great Rivers): I thank you for the opportunity to speak, and we will also submit written comments. The coalition I
45:13
Madeline (Great Rivers): work for, we really support funding for lead remediation in schools. Karisa spoke earlier, we work together.
45:19
Madeline (Great Rivers): And we hope that our communities can go to school and be protected from lead. We have instances in St Louis, Missouri where lead results have been as high as 800 parts per billion.
45:31
Madeline (Great Rivers): And I often talk to school districts, the main remediation practice is flushing, so we hope that the funding opportunity clearly states
45:39
Madeline (Great Rivers): which type of remediation practices are going to protect children and make it very clear and which terms are short term fixes and we specifically advocate for using filtration systems
45:50
Madeline (Great Rivers): and removing outdated plumbing fixtures, and so we hope that is expressed clearly.
45:55
Madeline (Great Rivers): We also support identifying communities with higher blood levels addressing their needs, first as the strategy poses.
46:03
Madeline (Great Rivers): And we hope that the identification process also takes into consideration communities with hyper vacancy problems.
46:09
Madeline (Great Rivers): St Louis City has over hundreds and hundreds of vacant buildings, that are more susceptible to demolitions, and these are
46:16
Madeline (Great Rivers): usually older homes, with a lot of lead based paint and materials in them and we get calls in the law Center all the time
46:23
Madeline (Great Rivers): about an old building going down. Communities are concerned about what's in their air, they're concerned that you know the Lead is covering their soil and also community gardens.
46:31
Madeline (Great Rivers): So we requested those places, along with the others that have been identified in the strategy, or taken into consideration with cities like St Louis with a hyper vacancy problem.
46:40
Madeline (Great Rivers): We also would like the strategy to include prioritizing communities with high levels of lead in drinking water by using the standard set out in the new LCRR
46:51
Madeline (Great Rivers): that requires testing for schools. We think, testing, we think testing results in schools, gives a better characteristics of the water quality in their area, for instance, our community always tests below
47:03
Madeline (Great Rivers): really three parts per billion under the Lead and Copper Rule standards, currently, but yet we see those elevated levels in our schools and older homes, and so we just hope that
47:13
Madeline (Great Rivers): the identification process goes further than the metrics of you know, did you did your water system have a violation under the
47:21
Madeline (Great Rivers): Lead and Copper Rule? And that concludes my comments like I said we're going to submit written comments and we just thank you for the opportunity to speak today.
48:09
[Amy Roberts, Kansas City Missouri Health Department] Amy Roberts: This is amy Roberts I apologize guys for being late, I was having some technical difficulties as I'm on my phone and not my desktop.
48:19
Amy Roberts: I'm the program manager for the Kansas city Missouri Health Department Lead Poisoning Prevention and Healthy Homes Program and we have a plan to to submit written recommendations.
48:34
Amy Roberts: But I just wanted to touch on a couple things since we're talking this evening.
48:39
Amy Roberts: We would like to see some recommendations for testing, not only at six months to 72 months but three months to nine years, because we are seeing some disparities, particularly in Latinx children, where we'll see a threefold increase in blood levels with children under six months.
49:06
Amy Roberts: And additionally our lead poisoned children we're seeing some
49:11
Amy Roberts: lead poisoned kids who have been exposed at younger ages, but continue to be significantly elevated at six, seven, eight, and nine years old.
49:24
Amy Roberts: We would also recommend funding for lead paint remediation for families.
49:31
Amy Roberts: That include children over five years of age. Right now HUD lead remediation programs require that kids --families have children under six and that doesn't include the sixth year and so that gap can be pretty significant when we're trying to help families with lead poisoned kids.
49:55
Amy Roberts: In addition, we definitely support everyone-- EPA and everyone else who has talked about strengthening lead regulations in the Lead and Copper Rule and the Clean Air Act.
50:06
Amy Roberts: And definitely we support programs to address plumbing and fixtures in remediation. That's something that in our current grant we have a minimal amount of funding that is available and it's just not enough and it is not -- it's included in our healthy homes funding, but not our lead funding.
50:30
Amy Roberts: Additionally, we support
50:33
Amy Roberts: updating safety procedures for demolitions, which somebody else
50:38
Amy Roberts: made a recommendation for as well, and again I agree with everyone else and appreciate the opportunity to speak and
50:47
Amy Roberts: appreciate the well organized and thorough
50:53
Amy Roberts: moderating.

