Elevated lead levels found in Lehigh
EPA probing degree of contamination at former farm site in the county.
By Arlene Martínez Of The Morning Call
November 10, 2008
Though it’s been years since Lehigh was a top apple-producing county in Pennsylvania, officials suspect pesticide use at former fruit farms is the cause for elevated lead levels in at least 47 homes in North Whitehall Township.
The affected area is the Schnecksville/Orefield area, about 1.5 square miles on either side of Route 309. All the properties sit on what used to be Mohr Orchards and neighboring fruit producers.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency learned of problems in the area earlier this year when tests during roadwork revealed elevated levels of arsenic. The agency took hundreds of samples on roughly 1,345 acres.
Lead also was found in levels ranging from untraceable all the way up to 604 parts per billion – 15 parts per billion is EPA’s benchmark for taking action (though it set it at 11 parts per billion at this particular site).
The contaminated water is on homes with private wells, said state Department of Environmental Protection regional spokesman Mark Carmon.
”The public water supplies have been checked and there are no problems with that,” he said.
EPA is working with DEP and the state Department of Health to test additional sites and determine the impact of the elevated lead levels.
EPA gave the 47 homeowners bottled water and told them only to drink that. It’s advising pregnant women in those homes to wash dishes with bottled water but said the water was fine for washing clothes and bathing.
Testing in the area will continue for both lead and arsenic.
Nowhere in the article does it state how these elevated lead levels compare to lead levels before the houses wee built or before the orchards were extensive int he area. All the data can conclusively tell us is that the lead level exceeds state guidelines, and not a word about the origin of the lead. Lead based pesticides were indeed used in eh orchard industry in years past, but we know nothing about the native lead content of he local soil before the orchards were developed, and thus cannot with any degree of certainty ascribe the cause of the lead contamination.
Without knowing what the lead levels were at the site before use of the allegedly offending agricultural product, it is impossible to determine the source of the contamination.
The source of the contamination is secondary to knowing that it’s there. As a homeowner, my first priority is having safe drinking water. For me to know it’s safe I need to test it. All homeowners are responsible for their water’s quality.