More than 100 Alabama residents impacted by lead contamination from nearby foundry

August 28, 2007 - An attorney met Monday night with more than 100 residents who live around an abandoned brass foundry responsible for lead contamination in their community.

I'm going to make sure they are compensated for any damages they may have suffered from the plant, Anniston attorney James Sims said.

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Alabama officials knew about contamination since 1992

August 12, 2007 - State officials apparently knew lead was running off the Lincoln Metals Corporation property in 1992, but action was never taken to stop the flow of contamination from the site.

The abandoned Lincoln Metals/Heartland Faucet Corp., 248 Foundry Road, Lincoln, has only recently drawn attention after it was disclosed that high levels of lead were found in and around its property and in a public park adjacent to the now defunct brass foundry.

Even though state officials knew of the high levels of lead more than three years ago, an Alabama Department of Environmental Management spokesman said, residents living around the foundry and Lincoln city officials were not immediately informed of the potential problems.

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3 years after initial discovery, Alabama residents finally learn of lead contamination

July 29, 2007 - First Avenue Park seemed to have everything for the close knit community nearby open spaces to play, ball fields and plenty of room for having fun.

But the recent disclosure of lead contamination discovered in the park has residents worried.

First Avenue residents first learned of the lead contamination when EPA officials approached them in May about testing the soil in their yards even though documents obtained by The Daily Home show officials with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management knew of the lead contamination more than three years ago. No records could be located showing that ADEM ever informed residents living around the foundry of their test findings.

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Alabama Residents Learn of Lead Contamination in the Heart of Their Neighborhood

July 12, 2007 - Residents in the predominately black First Avenue Park community of Lincoln just recently discovered high levels of lead were found at and around the abandoned Lincoln Metals Corporation/Heartland Faucet site at 248 Foundry Lane, in the heart of their neighborhood.

Residents were unaware hazardous waste was 200 feet from their front doors and next door to the neighborhood park until EPA officials asked property owners if they could take soil samples from their front and back yards to determine if there was lead contamination on their property.

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State officials knew about lead contamination in Alabama community for three years before telling residents

June 22, 2007 - Concerns about lead contamination surfaced after officials with the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency began knocking on doors, asking Lincoln residents who live around the First Avenue Park area if they could take soil samples from their yards.

Apparently, soil samples collected more than three years ago by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management showed high levels of lead and other metals in foundry sand scattered inside and outside the abandoned Lincoln Metals Corporation/Heartland Faucet site at 248 Foundry Lane.

Even though documents obtained by The Daily Home show that ADEM knew more than three years ago that there were high levels of lead contamination in the small Lincoln community, it failed to notify residents in that community or Lincoln city officials about the piles of hazardous waste.

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Alabama state officials new about contamination 3 years ago, but nobody told residents

June 13, 2007 - The man shook his head in disbelief when he learned that state officials knew three years ago that piles of hazardous material were just a few hundred feet from his home.

“They should have informed us about that,” said Sidney Fomby Jr., 61, of Lincoln. “They should have let the whole city of Lincoln know. My grandkids have played down by it.”

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