Soil cleanup at central Washington schools begins

The state Department of Ecology has begun work to cover up toxic hot spots that could be dangerous to children at four central Washington schools.

Work began this week at Robert E. Lee Elementary School in East Wenatchee, Sunnyslope Elementary and Orchard Middle School. Peshastin-Dryden Elementary will also be done this summer.

The work involves laying down clean dirt or concrete at the schools to protect children from old orchard chemicals in the ground.

Work at all four schools is to be completed by the end of July, said Mark Dunbar, site manager for Ecology's Toxic Cleanup Program. Only portions of the playground with unsafe levels of contamination are being capped.

The state tested soils at all schools in Chelan, Douglas, Okanogan and Yakima counties in 2002 for levels of arsenic and lead, which were sprayed on apple orchards in the 1940s to fight codling moths and other pests. Many schools in the region are built on old orchard sites.

Fourteen schools in Wenatchee, Orondo, Chelan, Manson, Bridgeport, Brewster and Omak were found to have unsafe levels of the chemicals in the soils.

Nine of the schools have been treated since 2006, either by soil replacement, capping or by deep rototilling with a 60-ton trencher that mixed the toxic soils near the surface with deeper, clean soils to bring the mix down to acceptable levels of contamination.

Contaminated school grounds in Yakima County will be tackled next.

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Information from: The Wenatchee World, http://www.wenworld.com