Lead is a long-time issue for Portlanders, as lead levels exceeded the federal action level in drinking water 11 times since the 1990s.
Historically, leaded gasoline, paint and galvanized pipes were the primary sources of the contaminated water and soil. Scientists recently identified another source of lead in the city in a first-of-its-kind study.
Portland’s older neighborhoods, including the city center and residential neighborhoods, contain higher levels of lead due to lead-sheathed phone lines built between the late 1880s and late 1950s, according to the new study published in Nature.
A team led by Alyssa Shiel, an environmental geochemist at Oregon State University, found lead levels in moss are, on average, 19 times higher in neighborhoods annexed to the city before 1916.
Moss is an effective air monitoring system that collects contaminants from the soil, dust and rainwater. Rainwater can become contaminated when it contacts the cables and falls into the moss and soil below.
While many neighborhoods no longer have lead-sheathed phone lines, the average lead concentration in those neighborhoods remains higher than average. Neighborhoods that still have lead-sheathed phone lines have the highest concentrations of lead.
These cables have a matte metallic appearance, and are often hung from a support wire or cable with cable rings or wire, giving it a two-stranded look. Sometimes they appear single-stranded. In some areas, sections have been covered with plastic or another material and secured with cable ties, acting as a squirrel guard. Shiel’s team also created a webpage where residents can view pictures and maps to help them determine if their neighborhood has or once had lead-sheathed lines.
Preliminary soil testing uncovered lead levels in the soil beneath lead-sheathed cables in Portland above the EPA screen level of 200 parts per million, consistent with EPA soil tests near similar cables in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California and Louisiana.
An issue rooted in equity
Many of the neighborhoods found to have the highest lead concentrations — Kenton/Portsmouth, Cathedral Park, Arbor Lodge, Piedmont, Humboldt, Montavilla and others — are home to a large number of Portlanders of color and lower-income Portlanders.
“Poorer and BIPOC communities disproportionately experiencing such unsafe environmental conditions unfortunately is very common,” Scott Kerman, Blanchet House executive director, said.
Blanchet House, a day shelter for homeless Portlanders, is in Old Town/Chinatown, which, like some other older neighborhoods, contains large homeless populations and has higher lead concentrations due to lead-sheathed phone lines. Scientists collected the majority of moss samples from trees near roadways, which are often near sidewalks and homeless Portlanders’ sleeping areas, raising concerns about the risks posed to marginalized and vulnerable populations.
Samples nearly 330 feet away from lead-sheathed phone lines showed an increased presence of lead, with the highest concentrations found in samples closer to the phone lines. Even in neighborhoods like Sunnyside and Woodstock, which had lead-sheathed phone lines removed nearly a decade ago, samples still show a higher-than-average lead concentration.
“The environmental burden of lead will continue to increase near these sources until they are removed,” the study concluded. “Further, this lead is expected to be persistent in urban landscapes, remaining present outside of removal and disposal of contaminated soils.”
What health issues can lead cause?
Lead is a highly toxic metal associated with “hypertension and cardiovascular disease, renal disease, neurodegenerative diseases like ALS, and decreased neurobehavioral-cognitive function,” the study said.
Children are especially vulnerable to lead, “as even low levels of lead in blood can adversely impact neurodevelopment and cause lower IQ, poorer academic achievement, cognitive deficits, behavioral problems, and delayed puberty.”
Shiel said lead-contaminated soils in areas where children live and play are likely to result in lead exposure.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, all children who are at risk for lead exposure should be tested for lead poisoning.
Peter Banka, a resident of the Boise neighborhood, is concerned about how these cables affect children of color.
“Kids are walking by my house every day to the Boise-Eliot Elementary School, mostly kids of color,” he said. “There’s lots of things that affect (kids of color) already, including their school being closer to (Interstate 5). It’s another danger to the kids in the neighborhood, which obviously doesn’t make you feel good.”
Leigh McIlvaine, an Arbor Lodge resident who loves to garden, said learning of the lead contamination presented by the lines raised concerns for her garden — and her child.
“I have a small child, and I feel really lucky to have not been growing food in my front yard,” McIlvaine said.
Food grown in lead-contaminated soil can get into your body if eaten, according to the EPA. The study cautioned against planting or eating food near lead-sheathed lines.
Shiel points to an Arizona State University study showing reducing soil lead levels decreases blood lead levels in children. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, looked at the soil and blood lead levels of children in New Orleans before and after Hurricane Katrina.
Advocates and residents alike want to know how officials plan to remedy the issue.
“How can we equitably address these issues and prepare for crises we know we are going to face in the future?” Lauren Armony, homeless advocacy nonprofit Sisters of The Road program director, said. “As a social justice organization, we are working to build capacity and skill in our community to advocate for real and root cause solutions to issues such as this. However, we are facing incredible barriers to making change whether be financially, or corporate interests that do not want to pay their fair share into our economy.
“We would appreciate hearing what our local leaders propose as a solution.”
Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office did not return requests for comment for this story.
How Shiel knows lead-sheathed cables are a problem
Researchers tested moss in neighborhoods across Portland to get a broad picture of lead levels. They found a major source of lead in moss across the city is leaded gasoline. But Portland’s older neighborhoods had distinctly higher lead levels than others.
Shiel explored these neighborhoods and found lead-sheathed phone cables, tracing this back to a 2023 Wall Street Journal investigation that concluded the United States is filled with toxic lead cables left by telecommunications companies.
Shiel differentiated the lead sources using unique isotope compositions, which differ depending on the source. The closer the moss was to cables, the more lead-sheathed cable isotopes she observed. The further away, isotopes shifted toward leaded gasoline.
Next steps of Shiel’s study
Further soil testing, as well as testing household dusts, are next for the study.
Shiel is seeking residents with lead cables running over or near their homes who are interested in determining lead levels on their property. Interested residents can reach her via email at alyssa.shiel@oregonstate.edu or leave her a message at her office number, 541-737-5209.
Shiel is also working with the Oregon Health Authority to gain access to blood lead levels of children in Oregon, but she notes the sparsity of data will limit what can be learned. The state collects blood lead level test results, but testing rates are extremely low as just 7% of Oregon children under 6 are tested.
Shiel is interested in collecting blood or other biological samples such as hair from all residents with elevated blood lead levels. She would use lead isotopes to directly link the lead in their bodies to the source in their environment.
For that research, she says she plans on partnering with health providers to find volunteers for the study. She said protecting study participants’ identities is key in this work.
Who is responsible?
Between the 1880s and 1960s, American Telephone and Telegraph, or AT&T, hung, placed underwater, or buried extensive networks of lead-sheathed cables across the United States. At the time, lead was understood as the most reliable material to protect the hundreds of bundled copper wires found in cables.
However, lead-sheathed phone cables were phased out in the 1950s as the technology advanced, shifting to plastic insulation and eventually, fiber optics. Companies often left the old cables in place.
Today, Lumen Technologies Inc. and Ziply Fiber own the cables in Portland.
The breakup of the Bell system in 1984, along with the subsequent mergers and acquisitions of both companies, makes it challenging to identify the location and ownership of all lead-sheathed cables.
A report on the legacy of these cables prepared by the U.S. Congressional Research Service found, “Some cables may have multiple owners if different companies acquired different parts of a network. Some lead-sheathed cables may be abandoned and have no owners.”
The answer to the question of who is responsible and/or liable is complex. Multiple federal and state statutes authorize investigations on lead contamination.
At the federal level, lead is a hazardous substance under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, or CERCLA, of 1980. Through CERCLA, potentially responsible parties, or PRPs, may be liable for response costs and natural resource damages.
Determining liability under CERCLA depends on site-specific factors. In the case of lead-sheathed cables, “PRPs could include not only the company that installed and operated the cable but also current and some past owners of the site on which the cable is located,” the Congressional Research Service wrote in its report.
At a state level, Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality, or DEQ, has a hazardous substances rule, OAR 340-122-0155, that gives it the authority to regulate investigation and clean-up of confirmed contamination sources. Its cleanup program is set up so the polluter pays for the costs undertaken to remove the contamination and its sources, rather than taxpayers.
However, DEQ does not have extra funds available to investigate potential sources of contamination, according to Lauren Wiritis, DEQ communications and outreach manager. If Shiel finds the lead-sheathed cables are causing adverse health effects, a federal or state court could determine the company must remove the cables.
Removal complicated by bureaucracy and ownership
One major obstacle in removing these cables is there’s no map of where these cables have been removed or left in place. The companies that own these cables don’t publish this information and do not readily give it up.
Mary Peveto, Neighbors for Clean Air executive director, said this inaccessibility to information is “an environmental injustice.”
All of Street Roots’ requests to uncover the whereabouts of these cables were redirected to USTelecom, the U.S. trade association representing technology providers. Despite repeated requests, USTelecom refuses to share these details.
A Freedom of Information Request to the Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, also did not uncover any information regarding ownership.
According to the FCC, domestic U.S. telecommunications carriers have blanket authority to build facilities and provide wireline service under section 214 of the Communications Act. The FCC also does not maintain records identifying specific carriers and their operational facilities in a given location.
However, the Oregon Public Utility Council, or OPUC, is currently investigating the location of all of the lead-sheathed cables in Portland. At the moment, it is in the information gathering phase of the investigation, which will help it decide whether to conduct a formal investigation or not.
“As part of the informal phase, the OPUC will work to determine the locations of any lead-sheathed telephone lines owned by Oregon’s telephone companies it regulates, status of the lines (in use or abandoned) and plans for replacement or removal of the lines,” Kandi Young, OPUC public information officer, said.
More details are not available at this time.
Shiel said residents worried about lead poisoning or wanting to share relevant information like the location of lead-sheathed cables can file a complaint with OPUC, as her contact there is watching for complaints related to lead cables.
Does my neighborhood have these cables?
Shiel developed a website with a map to help residents determine if their neighborhood has these cables or had them in the past.
If a neighborhood’s telephone or utility cables are buried underground, or a house was built in the 1960s or later, it likely does not have lead-sheathed cables.
“If residents are unsure, they are welcome to email me pictures and/or cross streets and I can let them know if I see lead cables,” Shiel said. “They can also check with their local utility providers.”
For more information on the difference between lead-sheathed and non-lead-sheathed cables, visit bit.ly/3AYa6ww.
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This article appears in September 11, 2024.