Vanessa Kimbrough watches from her front porch as a crew of workers lays a carpet of moist, green fescue on her property. The crew leader plops a square patch of the sod on the ground, nudges it into place with his boot, and looks up at Kimbrough.
“Are we doing this to your satisfaction, ma’am?” he asks.
“I’ve never seen a more beautiful lawn,” she says.
Kimbrough’s yard is one of 82 properties in the Southside area of Chattanooga the Environmental Protection Agency has tested for lead contamination. Fifty-two have degrees of contamination that exceed federal cleanup levels – including Kimbrough’s.
Earlier in the day, contractors with WRS Compass and Oneida Total Integrated Enterprises, two of the companies working with the EPA on the cleanup effort, scraped off Kimbrough’s topsoil, replaced it with a mixture of clay and top soil, and then spread straw across the top of the lawn to prevent erosion. The sod had been cut about four hours earlier and then transported by truck to the house. It was sliced thin, with the roots visible on the bottom, to help it set in more quickly.
“I’m worried about winter coming. But it should take only four or five days for the sod to take root,” the crew leader says.
The workers also removed the rose bushes, holly and vegetable garden, but that’s okay with Kimbrough because they’re going to replace everything – free of charge.
In 2011, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation received a request from the Tennessee Department of Health to help determine the origin of the lead exposure to the Southside resident. TDEC subsequently contacted the Environmental Protection Agency for assistance in characterizing the area around the residence.
The EPA and TDEC also evaluated much of south and east Chattanooga and determined the elevated lead in soils appears to be limited to the Southside area. The source of the lead in the soils remains unknown.
While Kimbrough is pleased to have a refurbished lawn, her sense of relief over the removal of the contamination is greater. She has ten grandchildren, many of who she says helped her to garden and ate the vegetables she grew in the lead-laden soil before either she or her husband knew it was there.
Mark Nichols, program director for WRS Compass, says the health of the children who live in the Southside is at the heart of the program. “We’re doing this for the kids. It’s important to keep them safe.”
The EPA started remediation of the contaminated yards the week of September 24. Nichols says the cleanup could take up to six months. The agency has opened a community outreach center at 27 West Main Street to host informal meetings and to provide a daily point of contact for residents with questions.
Residents can also call a toll free number to receive information or ask questions: 877-718-3752, extension 28463.