Skagway, Alaska Gold-Rush Town, Pushes for Thorough Lead Cleanup

JUNEAU, Alaska —  Crews have removed tainted soil near Skagway’s ore terminal, but eight months after the discovery of extremely high levels of lead in the town there is no plan for cleaning homes, yards or Skagway Harbor.

“It’s supposed to be a cleanup, but it’s a half-hearted effort,” said Susan Fredricks, one of about a dozen of Skagway’s 712 residents who in April formed “Get the Lead Out,” which is pushing for a thorough cleanup.

Two Anchorage-based environmental groups, the Alaska Center for the Environment and Trustees for Alaska, last month asked the federal government to take over the cleanup. They called the work so far “patently irresponsible.”

Records indicate that the effort has been ineffectual and marred by legal problems and lack of agreement among the four companies responsible. The removal of soil near the terminal and railroad tracks halted in May for the tourist season.

Dick Stokes, regional supervisor of the state Department of Environmental Conservation in Juneau, says the cleanup is going as fast as possible considering its complexity, but gave the companies until July 14 to agree on a plan for the terminal.

Federal Order

Extremely high lead levels in the terminal’s soil were revealed last fall in tests conducted by terminal operator Bowhead Equipment Co., which is under a federal order to stop polluting the harbor. Further tests confirmed that the Gold Rush town’s role as a mining port had created an insidious byproduct.

“There’s lead dust in people’s carpets, on their windowsills, on their doorsills, embedded in their beds and furniture,” said Kristine Benson, a soil scientist with the Alaska Center for the Environment.

The highest levels were at the terminal and railroad tracks, where concentrations of 133,000 parts per million have been found. Lead naturally is present in Skagway soil at about 50 parts per million, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has ordered cleanups elsewhere if levels in soil exceeded 500-1,000 ppm.

Lead also is in residents’ blood, although state health officials concluded in November that few had absorbed enough to pose a risk. Environmentalists say that conclusion was based on an outdated standard.

Lead can cause headaches, anemia, colic, paralysis and cramps. It also can stunt growth in children and cause birth defects.

“The symptoms are very subtle,” Benson said. “I don’t think anyone can say with any confidence that there have been no ill effects in Skagway.”

In any case, the state conservation department said a risk exists--especially for children--and promised to remove the lead. Officials decided to clean the terminal area first while testing to determine the extent of contamination in residential areas.

“Our first priority was to cut off contamination from the source,” Stokes said, adding that Bowhead Equipment has been able to prevent the ore from being spread through town by trucks and released into the air during ship loading.

State Records

Meanwhile, according to state records:

* White Pass & Yukon Route violated state law twice by leaving a pile of contaminated soil uncovered and exposed to wind. Stokes, in a letter, scolded a railroad official for failing to “understand the seriousness of the cleanup.” No punitive action was taken, but Stokes said the company will have to pay for the state’s investigation of the violations.

* Soil has been removed twice from the east side of the terminal, but tests after each found more than the target of 1,000 ppm. of lead. The area, traversed by cruise ship passengers until last month, has been sealed.

* Tests showed that the cleanup of a 10-foot corridor along the railroad tracks also was insufficient.