"I got some chilies over there, corn, sweet pea, tomatoes, zucchinis," Jesus Garcia says, gesturing toward the neat rows of his huge, newly planted garden. "And I got some squash over there, too."
But he won't be harvesting beets, potatoes, carrots or other vegetables that grow underground because his soil is laced with lead dust from the tailing piles of Midvale's defunct Sharon Steel Mill.Jesus and Margarita Garcia, 270 S. Main, Midvale, were among the first residents to be given the bad news Tuesday that Environmental Protection Agency investigators found lead in their soil. At ages 68 and 67, respectively, they are wondering what's next.
Lead, arsenic and cadmium - all of which are potentially health-threatening heavy metals - were discovered in soil throughout a residential neighborhood near the Sharon Steel plant. Apparently the most at any home is about 2,500 parts of lead per million parts of soil - up to five times the level at which some health experts believe action should be taken.
For years, contaminated tailings have blown off the 260-acre site. Approximately 14 million cubic yards of tailings remain, earmarked for cleanup in the future as a Superfund project.
Tuesday and Wednesday, residents were meeting privately with EPA and state experts at City Hall to hear the results of the surveys. They were asked to present photo identifications to prove they live at the property that was sampled.
They were given maps showing soil concentrations, plus specific data sheets for their own property with numbers listed ac cording to contamination at particular soil depths.
More information will be given to the public tonight at the Midvale City Hall Auditorium, 80 E. Center St., in a meeting scheduled to run from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The worst concentrations found for the Garcias' yard was lead at 929 parts per million, 2 inches below the surface. If the EPA decides that the "action level" is 500 ppm, as state officials say it should, that would mean something should be done.
EPA experts haven't said what their action level will be. It could be anywhere between 500 ppm and 1,000 ppm, they said.
At the meeting Tuesday, Margarita Garcia said, the experts advised the couple "not to plant anything underground - carrots, red beets, potatoes." She is "definitely" afraid about the development.
"We're not happy at all about this," she said. "Well, I think the U.S. should have done something about this."
"What they tell us is they're going to remove the lawn, garden," Jesus Garcia said.
They agree that it will be hard to sell the house now. "People already know about this - about the tailings. Who's going to want to buy the house?" he said.
According to the experts, soil won't be removed for two or three years. "Imagine, they start digging all the lawns. It's going to be quite a mess," he said.
In the distance beyond the garden, which is more than 400 feet by 70 feet, a tall, gray, boxy structure can be seen. Jesus Garcia said that is the Sharon Steel Mill.
The Garcias have grown their garden for 27 years. "I give a lot of corn away and sometimes tomatoes," he said.
A few years ago, the family heard on a TV program that there might be a problem with tailings, and since then they haven't grown underground vegetables. But this is the first they have been officially notified they have a problem.
Asked if they're going to grow vegetables this year and eat them, he said, "Yes. They say to clean everything."
Indicating the family home, he said, "I raised five kids over here."
Is he concerned about the reports of high lead levels? "Well, it's too late now."
Margarita Garcia added, "This is terrible. It's really a mess."
Two hundred notices were mailed to Midvale citizens. That is the same number of properties that were checked, so it apparently means that all or nearly all of the homes examined near Sharon Steel have contaminated soil.
People so far have been calm when they get the news, a team member said.
"Well, I'm not really" concerned, said Robert Hughes, 39 Fern Drive. "For 21 years, before I got married, I lived right over here. . . . We got a lot of the dirt, when it blew. And I'm 60 and I still feel pretty good, you know? I don't know how long you have to wait before you don't feel good."
He reckons that government officials should take action "in certain areas, if it's really toxic." Otherwise, they should just leave it alone.
"I think they're doing really well," Sam Vance, the EPA's chief for the Sharon Steel cleanup, said of the residents. He said he has seen no "undue alarm or concern." They have simply asked questions and received answers, he said.
Emma Jones, 135 E. Wasatch, whose yard was found to have lead concentrations somewhere near the action level, said, "We're used to eating vegetables out of the garden in the summer. . . . On a limited income you have to use things like that."
She always used to think that her home-grown vegetables were more healthful than those bought in a store.
Now, she says, "Maybe not."