Poisons lurk where lead-smelting factories once stood - USA TODAY

A 14-month USA TODAY investigation found that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state regulators left thousands of families and children in harm’s way, doing little to assess the danger around many of the more than 400 potential lead smelter locations.  The possible locations were compiled by a researcher from old industry directories and were given to the EPA in 2001. The investigation alleges widespread government failures when officials failed to look for these smelters, failed to test the soil in the smelters’ nearby neighborhoods, and failed to alert neighbors and order clean-ups when high levels of lead were found in the soil. Read more about this investigation here.

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