The EPA heralds its Omaha cleanup as a success. But we found many yards still have toxic levels of lead
The agency spent hundreds of millions on lead remediation in Omaha, home of the nation’s largest residential Superfund site. New soil tests by the Flatwater Free Press and ProPublica show that many yards still have harmful levels of lead.
From left, Brenda González Rocha holds her 8-month-old, Isaías, as González’s daughters Carolina, 6, and Camila, 8, play on the trampoline in their backyard in June. González’s front yard tested high for lead, and she is concerned how the contamination could “affect their quality of life.”Photo by Rebecca S. Gratz for ProPublica