Hey Omaha, Chris here.
Years ago, a factory churned along a river in a Midwestern town. Workers melted and cast its product. Smoke billowed from its towers
The factory was ASARCO. The product was lead. The place it coated in tons of toxic dust was Omaha.
I’ve been reporting on lead since August, part of a partnership with ProPublica, and met a lot of Omahans who don’t know their city is home to the largest residential lead cleanup in the country. Many who do know think the problem was fixed.
Turns out, the story isn’t over.
Since the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency started digging up Omahans’ yards in 1999, scientists have proven that increasingly smaller amounts of lead damage kids’ and adults’ bodies.
In January 2024, the Biden administration lowered recommended cleanup levels for the country to half Omaha’s current standard. It could have meant new work for 27,000 properties at a cost of more than $800 million, though both those numbers didn’t account for a likely site expansion, according to state and federal records I obtained.
Then in October, Trump’s EPA changed the guidance, tripling the amount required for a possible cleanup. While the directive still allows officials to look at lower cleanup levels, experts I talked to said that may be unlikely.
If they don’t, it means more kids like Jack Prine could be exposed. Jack is a 5-year-old whose family lives in the Field Club neighborhood. Doctors found a high amount of lead in his blood in 2022. His parents’ house doesn’t qualify for remediation under Omaha’s current standards but may have under the Biden guidance.
Now his mom, Crystalyn, has no idea what to expect. All she knows is there’s a danger in her yard and there’s no plan to clean it up.
This is my first story in a yearlong project about the Superfund site. If you haven’t already, we’d love to test your yard to see how effective cleanup has been. If you’ve been affected by lead, or know someone that has, please email me. I would love to hear from you.
Hope you’ll read by clicking here (or by clicking the image up above).
— Chris Bowling, Flatwater Free Press
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Lancaster County commissioners debated a liquor license request for Capitol View Winery, ultimately voting to recommend denial because the business falls under city zoning rules that restrict alcohol sales. The board also approved converting $5 million in previously issued bonds to tax-exempt status and signed off on multiple county infrastructure purchases and repairs. During public comment, the county assessor updated commissioners on upcoming homestead exemption services amid construction downtown. Read the full summary here and the full meeting notes on the Documenters website.
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— Leah Wambui Keinama, Nebraska Journalism Trust
I love this time of year — holiday decorations, hot chocolate, and my personal favorite Omaha tradition: riding a trolley!
That’s why this Saturday, I’m riding the Myrtle and Cypress Jolly Trolley. Over 20 local vendors will fill both coffee shop locations for a holiday market, and Buttercup the Trolley will be giving free rides between shops to make sure we get to see (and shop) them all. The market runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Buttercup will be giving rides between 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
I know I’ll be grabbing a Juniper Berry Latte and browsing for that perfect meaningful gift.
— Han McClelland Wagoner, Nebraska Journalism Trust
Three passengers in a traffic stop of Terence “Bud” Crawford’s car have sued Omaha Police Department officers and Chief Todd Schmaderer in federal court, Dan Crisler at The World-Herald writes. The men claim officers used excessive force and violated their civil rights. City Attorney Matt Kuhse said in a statement the city will “vigorously” defend its officers’ actions.
(You may need a World-Herald subscription to read these stories.)
It’s the state’s fault Omaha Public Schools received $30.5 million in extra funding, but it will cost the district $61 million to fix, writes Luna Stephens at The World-Herald. State Board of Education members questioned how the district didn’t catch the miscalculation. OPS’s chief financial officer said the district did and the state assured it the funding increase was accurate.
(You may need a subscription to read this story.)
Two people — a 48-year-old bicyclist in Hanscom Park and a 55-year-old woman in a wheelchair in North Omaha — were struck and killed by cars on Tuesday, KETV reports. The deaths add to what already has been the deadliest year for Nebraska pedestrians in three decades, a fact the city is trying to address through a road safety initiative, Jessica Wade at The Reader writes.
The City of Omaha is considering placing a public park under private management, Cindy Gonzalez at the Nebraska Examiner writes. The proposed Miller Park deal would mirror a similar setup at Lake Cunningham park and free up resources for the city’s parks department, said Mayor John Ewing. Former State Sen. Justin Wayne fears the park would turn into a “marketing asset” for developers.
A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against AltEn after the biofuel company and the agrochemical companies tasked with cleaning up pesticide contamination in Mead settled. The agreement, which includes restricting future site usage, hints that the state’s litigation against the defunct ethanol plant may also end soon, Aaron Sanderford at the Nebraska Examiner writes. The governor and other officials visited Mead on Tuesday to outline future cleanup plans.
The Flatwater Free Press is published by the Nebraska Journalism Trust, a 501(c)(3) public charity