Resident Reports Lead Contaminated Ash and Debris After Prescribed Burn

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On Friday, the Bloomington Fire Department conducted a prescribed burning of a home at 1213 South High Street as a training exercise.

Matt Murphy, owner of Foursquare Construction and local landlord who lives in the area, says he felt a burning in his throat as he smelled what he suspected was lead-based paint.

Murphy then bought several lead paint test kits at Bloomington Paint. He says all of the tests came back positive for lead.

“I think I sort of assumed that in tandem with all that other prep work that they would have tested for lead, but it would appear that they did not,” said Murphy.

Murphy lives about 150 yards directly west of the burn site on the corner of Ruby Lane and Nancy Street. He says he noticed ash and debris from the burn in his garden. He also spoke with his neighbors who saw similar debris.

“They’re quite concerned and upset and hoping for some direction and communication from the city of Bloomington,” said Murphy.

The city has since responded to the possible lead contamination. A Google form was organized for residents to request remediation in the area at no cost.

“Local health officials recommend keeping kids and pets away from the ash until testing indicates if it is hazardous,” says Fire Chief Jason Moore in a press release.

City officials say the fire department will contract with Servpro, a company that specializes in biohazard cleanup. The cleanup process will consist of using a HEPA filtered vacuum which the city says experts consider the best way to conduct this kind of cleanup.

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management, who approved the permits required for the training, will take ash samples to measure the extent of the contamination.

Murphy called a representative from IDEM, a few city officials and the mayor’s office. He described what he heard back after contacting them.

“IDEM did indeed sign off in this and they were the ones who suggested or requested the removal of the vinyl siding and some of the other materials, and I think they had to check for mercury and various fluorescent lights and switches that are common in older homes, but bizarrely did not have anybody check for lead paint,” said Murphy.

The home was built in 1951 – wherein, lead paint was commonly used for homes of that period. It wasn’t until 1978 that federal regulations banned the use of lead paint in residential homes.

Lead paint can have devastating impacts on the human body, according to Gabriel Filippelli, the executive director for the Environmental Resilience Institute and researcher at IUPUI.

“It’s particularly dangerous for children,” says Filippelli. “And that’s because they absorb a lot of the lead that they’re exposed to. Adults don’t absorb quite as much. Not only do they absorb a lot of lead, but their neurological systems are developing. And lead is a neurotoxin, so it becomes particularly problematic.”

According to the World Health Organization, once lead enters the body – it is distributed to organs such as the brain, kidneys, liver and bones.

At high levels of exposure, lead attacks the brain and central nervous system, causing coma, convulsions and even death.

Children who survive severe lead poisoning may be left with intellectual disability and behavioral disorders. Even at lower levels of contamination, lead can affect brain development in children.

It’s worth noting that there is no safe exposure level when it comes to lead. The WHO outlines that as lead exposure increases, the range and severity of symptoms and effects also increase.

“It can be safer if you’re an adult, but even adults can experience neurological and physical issues with a lot of lead exposure,” said Fillippelli.

Matt Murphy sent a few of the paint chips off for testing to Filippelli. Murphy says he’s hopeful for immediate results. He says that he and his neighbors are furious they may face contamination of lead near their homes.

“Well, I think we’re all pretty furious would be an accurate word. And like I said previously, I am hoping that by some stroke of luck, I drop these materials off at the lab and they test them and say ‘nothing to worry about, carry on.’ But so far, the three lead test kits that we have used, have indicated a positive result for every single chip we’ve tested,” he said.

Murphy says he hopes the incident leads to some sort of positive change in policy, so that this does not happen again in the future.

“I hope some good comes of this incident. I hope that whether it be local or state rules, regulations and laws that govern these types of so called controlled burns – I hope perhaps they can be changed because it does not make any sense to burn a structure like this in a core residential neighborhood, and really anywhere, if it’s going to release toxins,” said Murphy.

WFHB News reached out to the fire department but were unable to reach them before broadcast.