Hillyard kids eligible for free lead testing

Like many toddlers, Katelyn Good had a habit that baffled her mom.

She liked eating dirt while playing in her back yard.

But what might be considered an annoying stage to mothers in one Spokane neighborhood was a health hazard for Katelyn. That dirt was 13 blocks away from a lead-tainted rail yard in Hillyard. A test taken a year ago showed high levels of lead in the 2-year-old’s blood, a condition that can cause mental retardation and nerve damage, among other problems.

“I was very, very angry” when the contamination was discovered, said Stephanie Culp, Katelyn’s mother. “As a parent it hurts me more than anything.”

The Spokane Regional Health District announced Tuesday that it will offer free lead testing to children ages 6 months through 11 years who live or play near the contamination site. The rail yard, which sits between the 4800 and 5300 blocks of North Ferrall Street, is considered the most hazardous of 54 toxic cleanup sites in Spokane County.

“We are concerned that children who live near or play at the contaminated site may be exposed to lead,” said Dr. Kim Thorburn, district health officer, in a news release.

The site is owned by BNSF Railway Co. Contaminated soil from the site has spread over 140,000 square feet.

The district received funding from the Washington state Department of Health to give the blood tests June 10 at the Northeast Community Center. If the demand is high or if families can’t come June 10, more testing might be done later, district spokeswoman Julie Graham said.

The district wants to test children from the area bordered by Euclid and Frederick avenues to the south, Francis Avenue to the north, Market Street to the west and Havana Street to the east.

The district also is arranging to provide treatment through the Community Health Association of Spokane to children whose tests show high lead levels and whose families can’t afford care.

Katelyn Good’s lead levels were detected during a blood test for an unrelated medical condition. Luckily, she isn’t showing any symptoms of problems caused by lead. In fact, she’s quite advanced, her mother said.

But Culp worries about the children from the day care that was across from her Hillyard house and about the people from her father’s generation, who played in the abandoned furnaces and rail cars near the site.

Her concerns were serious enough to motivate Culp to move three miles away.

“If she can’t go out and play in the yard, why do I want a piece of property we can’t enjoy?” she said.