Challenges in Addressing Lead Contamination in Omaha Yards

Despite hundreds of millions spent on environmental cleanups, many yards in Omaha, Nebraska, still contain unsafe lead levels. This area once surrounded a lead smelter, and recent tests by the Flatwater Free Press and ProPublica confirm remaining contamination risks to children. Elevated blood-lead levels are prevalent across Omaha’s old urban core, including historically Black neighborhoods north of downtown, predominantly Hispanic areas to the south, and more affluent midtown regions.

Homes close to former lead smelters and other factories show slightly higher contamination than those farther away. The federal government and Omaha city have worked to reduce lead levels since the late 1990s, under the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Superfund program. However, cleanup standards may need updating. The EPA’s standard from 2009, which relies on health recommendations from 1994, may not cover lower exposure risks now linked to IQ loss and heart attacks. In the past 15 years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention twice lowered high blood-lead level guidelines.

Tests by Flatwater Free Press and ProPublica covered 388 homes in the Omaha Superfund site, revealing 208 locations with soil levels exceeding 100 parts per million. Yet the EPA has not required this cleanup level nationally. The current EPA policy for Omaha mandates soil replacement only when lead levels exceed 400 parts per million.

Despite these limitations, EPA spokesperson Kellen Ashford states that efforts extend beyond soil removal. The Omaha Lead Registry website allows residents to check lead levels and remediation status by property. Moreover, the Douglas County Health Department conducts home visits where children show high exposure levels, contributing to notable declines in elevated blood-lead rates. Nonetheless, local children still show higher rates than the national average.

A timeline of regulatory actions reveals changes in cleanup directives. In 2025, the Trump administration increased the necessary soil lead concentration for cleanup. Previously, discussions under the EPA included expanding cleanup efforts to about 27,000 properties. Past efforts included completed cleanups of over 13,000 properties by 2015, but the focus had historically been on extreme lead poisoning cases due to paint.

Recent guidance from President Biden’s EPA reduces screening levels to 100 parts per million. Cleaning to this level involves tremendous costs, with about 40% of U.S. homes exceeding such concentrations potentially costing between $500 billion and $1.4 trillion in cleanups. An alternative proposed involves covering contaminated soil with clean materials.

State and international standards vary, with some areas adopting stricter guidelines. For instance, Minnesota replaces soil with lead concentrations over 100 parts per million around homes of children with high blood lead levels. Norwegian standards ensure risk assessments for lead concentrations over 100 parts per million on accessible grasslands and have applied this to playgrounds since 2006.

Omaha may soon see expanded testing. The EPA plans to reassess soil contamination, considering altering site boundaries or lowering cleanup thresholds. Reports indicate 84% of Omaha’s Superfund site properties exceed the 100 parts per million mark in lead concentration. However, without consistent application of guidelines across sites, actions remain varied.

Residents can reduce risks independently by maintaining grass cover to minimize dust. The EPA’s recommendations include regular hand washing and avoiding bringing shoes inside. These measures are interim solutions while awaiting more substantial government leadership to achieve long-term results.