Vashon Island Heavy Metals

---

---

Elevated concentrations of lead, arsenic, and cadmium have been found on Vashon Island, Maury Island, and the surrounding mainland (see the King County summary of findings and Final Report). The source appears to have been the Asarco smelter in Ruston (near Tacoma). An extensive cleanup has been under way in Tacoma (see Program for Area Cleanup Education).

Ask an expert! Do you have a question about your own soils, heavy metals and your health or a related question, send it to us .

You can grow cleaner dirt! This symposium (on 26 April 2003) was the second symposium on the subject of cleaning up our soil sponsored by the Heavy Metals Remediation Committee (HMRC).

Get the scoop on our dirt! This symposium (on 18 November 2002) brought together experts to talk about the risks and opportunities for cleanup of heavy metals in soils in the Puget Sound Region.

Arsenic and lead in farm products. Scientists at the Univeristy of Washington performed a study of arsenic and lead in farm products and farm families on the island: most of the results were equivocal. The full study can be found here. A short summary can be found here.

Preliminary phytoremediation results - A study performed on Vashon Island showed that plants excluded arsenic and lead, but took up cadmium. A summary can be found here.

Access to metal data - the EIM Query System at the Department of Ecology website offers easy access to several Smelter Plume related studies. The data can be exported in a format that can be easily imported into a spreadsheet or database.

The home page for the EIM system is here:
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/services/as/iip/eim/index.html

Data can be accessed here:
http://apps.ecy.wa.gov/eimreporting/Search.asp?Type=Study
The Smelter relater studies can be found by entering TSP in the Study Identifier field and executing a search (click here to go directly to those results).

Information on King County metal sampling - King County released information in March of 2002 about heavy metals in soils on the mainland. The maps and data for both the Vashon Island and mainland King County can be found here.

Information about the heavy metal content of soil amendments - Washington State Department of agriculture has a database of the contamination in commercial soil amendments. You can check out individual products at their web page here, or you can look at the sorted results here our web site.

If you live in these areas, it is prudent to take precautions to limit your exposures. We have summarized information in fact sheets:

Lead fact sheet
Arsenic fact sheet
Medical symptoms fact sheet

If you want to check the levels of these metals in your soil see:

Soil Sampling for Lead, Cadmium and Arsenic
Local Commercial Laboratories

More information can be found on this web site through the following links:

Arsenic Risks and The Tacoma Smelter Plume

Cleaning up: Suggestions for Homeowner's Heavy Metal Remediation
Heavy Metal Remediation Committee (HMRC)

The Heavy Metals Remediation Committee (HMRC) is a volunteer committee of the Vashon-Maury Island Community Council. The committee meets on the first Friday of the month at the Vashon Library. More information on HMRC meetings can be found here.

The Island Remediation and Public Participation Center (IRPPC) is a non-profit 501c3 organization formed to receive grants supporting the work of the Heavy Metals Remediation Committee of the Vashon-Maury Island Community Council. Board meeting minutes can be accessed here.