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| Latest arsenic results in for Long Lane residents |
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6/23/2017
By Tom Marshall
Senior Advocate writer
Follow-up tests on Long Lane residents show a decrease in levels of arsenic, the Montgomery County Health Dept. reports.
During a first round of tests last fall 56 percent of the residents tested had elevated levels of arsenic, according to the University of Kentucky College of Public Health. Eighty-four residents were tested then.
The latest results, however, show that there were four individuals whose arsenic levels were higher than the baseline testing results from September 2016, said Jan Chamness, Montgomery County public health director.
In consultation with Dr. Anna Yaffee from the Kentucky Dept. for Public Health, the health dept. contacted residents and requested that they obtain a 24-hour urine test, Chamness said.
Previous tests were conducted using nail clippings.
The letters to all of the residents were mailed last week, including those with elevated levels, Chamness said. Included with their letter was a referral to the dept.’s contract lab, LabCorp, in order to perform additional testing, she said.
“We will wait to see what those results are to determine if any further action is necessary,” Chamness said.
The additional testing is being done at no charge to the residents.
During the latest testing there were seven individuals whose levels were elevated, however, three of those had levels that were slightly higher and all three were below the .2 micrograms per gram that is the baseline for other studied populations in Kentucky, Chamness said.
“Of those that are being re-tested, there is no correlation to age since the range is 7 years to 23 years, no correlation to location since they were different areas on the property and no correlation to whether or not they returned to the site—some of those did, some did not,” she said.
Last September, the Kentucky Dept. of Environmental Protection ordered residents along the rural road off Paris Pike to evacuate their homes after arsenic contamination was reported there. They were offered living expenses while they were displaced.
Most moved back in December, but some declined to return.
Southern Wood Treatment Co. had once operated a wood treatment plan on Long Lane. Residents claim the company buried some of its materials there when it closed several years ago.
The company and estates of the former ownership are now the subject of a lawsuit filed by some former residents. Six current and former environmental officials were later added to the suit.
That suit is pending in Montgomery County Circuit Court.
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