COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) -
More testing is being done in a Columbia neighborhood where elevated levels of lead and arsenic were found recently.
The toxins were discovered in the ground at an asphalt plant and in the nearby Edisto community.
Friday, the EPA went door-to-door asking residents for permission to test their soil.
The EPA is testing the same yards as DHEC to confirm their results and determine what's needed to clean up the community.
Angela Lewis has lived in the Edisto community for 43 years. Long before her or the SeAco Asphalt plant, the big neighborhood industry was fertilizer.
1910 advertisements for Royster's Fertilizer describe the company as so big, it took eight factories to meet the demand. That factory is now likely the source of arsenic and lead.
"I know they're saying about the environment but what about my health?" asked Lewis. "What about me and my family?"
Last week DHEC went digging in her yard for arsenic and lead levels.
"They did find some," said Lewis. "Nobody's telling me exactly what it is, just something was found."
Friday it was the EPA knocking at her door.
"I gave them permission to dig some more and they're supposed to be letting me know," she said.
The EPA will take eight samples from Lewis' yard, but they're also taking air samples in the neighborhood with a device that acts like a small vacuum.
"It just draws air through, and at the very beginning there's a filter cartridge," said Rick Jardine with the EPA.
Eventually the cartridge will be run through a metal analyzer in a lab. Next week residents will be tested themselves, if they want to be.
"We will test blood for lead," said Jim Beasley with DHEC. "And we'll be able to test urine for levels of arsenic."
Lewis will have her three boys, ages 7,2, and 1 tested. She will be tested as well.
"They're saying this may have been here 100 years, that's a long time for nobody not to know," she said. "So I guess if the property wasn't being sold we wouldn't have found out."
She's grateful the tests were done, but wants results sooner rather than later.
DHEC says the biggest health concern is water, but because much of the area is on city water, it's not a big issue. DHEC has asked people to make sure they're washing their hands and not kick up much dust.
On Monday August 6th and Tuesday August 7th DHEC will conduct lead and arsenic tests free of charge for residents of the Edisto Court Community. The lead test will be a blood test and the arsenic test is a urine test. It's at Edisto Discovery Park and Neighborhood Center, 1914 Wiley Street from 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM.
Copyright 2012 WIS. All rights reserved.
EPA employees test air and water samples in Edisto neighborhood
