What's That on the Lawn? Eww ... Gross.

Here is a little story that caught my attention ... human waste purposefully spread on and around an elementary school play area by the EPA. No, I am not kidding.

KMOX original story (click audio)
KMOX follow up finding that local residents knew of the plan.
Saint Louis Post Dispatch Story

The city of East Saint Louis has a few problems, perhaps you are aware of that (Kozol's Savage Inequalities). Well, growing up near the area, there is a long history to East Saint Louis which I won't get into here other than to mention that at one time East Saint Louis was a thriving industrial city. One of the industries that was in town were lead smelters and paint manufacturers. Anyway, given the low environmental standards, remnants of that era remain. Here is Kozol on the lead problem:

SI Kozol St. Louis, Illinois via kwout

Anyway, to decrease the lead contamination in the area, the EPA came up with a plan to combine human and industrial waste to mix into the soil in an effort to bind the lead particles to inert materials that are not harmful when kids and adults ingest the soil as they play and live on this contaminated ground. That was the plan, although people in the area were not aware of the human source of the new "soil." Some researchers think there has not been enough research done on the use of human waste in such applications and that the human waste itself might not be safe.

The problems run deep in East Saint Louis, literally. It is a good lesson in knowing your school environment and the possible environmental hazards your kids might be facing. We need to keep tabs on who is doing what around the school where our children play, because as this story shows, you can't trust others not to do something stupid like this.

Comments

[Erica Harris]

It appears to me that the school board should have been contact before this took place. It seems to me that this could fall under negligence.

[Justin B.]

Yeah, someone might be negligent here. I wouldn't be surprised if someone brought a case against the EPA for failing to inform the public that this was going on. Especially with a school so close near by. Maybe they did, who knows, but if it can be proven that they didn't I think that would make a for a pretty nice suit.