1. The Secondary Lead Smelting Industry: A Progress Report, 2001 - 2015
William P. Eckel
Ph.D., ESPP, George Mason University, 2001

5. An Interdisciplinary Project
Historical & Archival Research
Economics: Industrial Organization
Environmental Forensics
Public Relations / Journalism

6. What is Secondary Lead Smelting ?
Recovery of Pb metal and Pb alloys from Scrapped materials
Auto batteries, lead wheel weights, cable sheathing, wheel bearings, etc.
A/k/a “recycling”

8. Research Objectives
How many abandoned lead smelters still exist, unknown to authorities?
Where are they, and do they pose a threat to public health?
Can the Pb from these sites be distinguished from other urban Pb sources?

9. Publications
Discovering Unrecognized Lead-Smelting Sites by Historical Methods. Eckel, Rabinowitz & Foster, American Journal of Public Health, 2001
Investigation of Unrecognized Former Secondary Lead Smelting Sites: Confirmation by Historical Sources and Elemental Ratios in Soil. Eckel, Rabinowitz & Foster, Environmental Pollution, 2002

10. Citations in Various Fields
Environmental Science:
Environmental Health Perspectives
Science of the Total Environment
J. of Residuals Science and Technology
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness
AIMS Environmental Science
J. of Great Lakes Research
Environment International
Analytical Sciences
Polish Journal of Environmental Studies
Water, Air & Soil Pollution
Nature Communications
Environmental Earth Sciences
Geochemistry
Geoderma
Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis
Environmental Geochemistry and Health
Journal of Geochemical Exploration

11. Citations in Various Fields
Archaeology
Journal of Archaeological Science
Archaeological Prospection
Journal of Archaeology
Sociology & History
Organization & Environment
Journal of Environmental Planning & Management
Journal of Urban Affairs
Environmental History
Environmental Justice
Accountability in Research: Policies & Quality

12. History & Archival Research
Sources (1930s to 1960s Industrial Directories):
Secondary Metals Directory
American Bureau of Metal Statistics
Metals Statistics
Complied list of about 600 potential lead-smelting sites

16. Results of Historical Research
Table 2-1- Summary of Number of Firms and Plants
in U.S. Secondary Lead Industry, 1941 – 1994
Year Firms Plants Reference
1941 over 35 “hundreds”
over
,17 to

17. Industrial Organization: Where and Why?
Many small companies located in major cities….
Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Cleveland, Buffalo, Newark, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Boston, Indianapolis
These cities were rich sources of scrapped automobile batteries
“Barriers to Entry” were low
Because batteries are heavy & expensive to transport, many small smelters were set up in urban centers

19. Environmental Forensics: Whose Lead?
Vast amounts of Pb were released into the environment in the 20th Century…ubiquitous in soil
Leaded gasoline, lead paint were major sources
How can smelter Pb be distinguished from other sources?
Need to attribute Pb to a specific industrial release to obtain federal money for clean-up
Generalized, diffuse Pb soil pollution doesn’t count

20. Attributing Pb in Soil to Source
Pb Isotope Ratios: mainly for primary smelters using a specific ore
Gradients: Pb concentrations greater near source or decreasing along predominant wind direction
Lead paint: proximity to houses

21. Secondary Smelter Signature: Sb
Main source of scrap material, auto batteries, contained “hard lead” alloy used in grids and terminals
“Hard lead” a/k/a “antimonial lead” is about 5% Sb
Other common sources of Pb not associated with Sb
Showed that Sb was present in soils at secondary lead sites at consistent ratio with Pb
The Pb – Sb relationship is being used in current clean-up at Exide smelter in Los Angeles

25. Follow-up: Public Relations, Journalism, Consequences
My Committee urged follow-up due to potential public health implications
ACS Press Release at 2001 Spring meeting
Picked up by Internet, Print and Radio sources immediately
Continued to contact newspapers with related stories
Series of articles in Detroit Free Press (2003) led to state-wide investigation in Michigan

26. Ten-year Anniversary
Gannett (USA Today) embarked on a 14-month long investigation ( ) to probe EPA response; dozens of journalism awards
Included archival research (maps), site visits and XRF analysis of soil
Concluded that many sites were not investigated, or were not sampled, or residents were not warned of Pb contamination
Resulted in complete EPA reassessment of all 400-plus sites and several clean-ups

29. 2013 ALFRED I. DUPONT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY AWARD FOR DIGITAL AND BROADCAST JOURNALISM USA TODAY – Silver Baton Winner – Ghost Factories: Poison in the Ground - Alison Young and Peter Eisler
2013 GERALD LOEB AWARD USA TODAY – Online Winner – Ghost Factories: Poison in the Ground - Alison Young and Peter Eisler
2013 NATIONAL HEADLINER AWARD USA TODAY – Second Place Winner – Journalism Innovation – Ghost Factories: Poison in the Ground - Alison Young, Peter Eisler and John Hillkirk
2013 NATIONAL PRESS CLUB JOAN M. FRIEDENBERG ONLINE JOURNALISM AWARD USA TODAY – Winner – Ghost Factories: Poison in the Ground - Alison Young and Peter Eisler
2013 ONLINE MEDIA AWARD USA TODAY – Finalist – Investigative Journalism – Ghost Factories: Poison in the Ground
2013 SIDNEY HILLMAN FOUNDATION: HILLMAN PRIZE FOR WEB JOURNALISM USA TODAY – Winner – Ghost Factories: Poison in the Ground - Alison Young and Peter Eisler
2013 SOCIETY FOR NEWS DESIGN: BEST OF DIGITAL DESIGN AWARD USA TODAY – Silver Medal Winner – Use of Multimedia - Ghost Factories: Smelting and Lead Contamination
2013 THE AMERICAN LEGION’S FOURTH ESTATE AWARD USA TODAY – First Place Winner – Print – Ghost Factories: Poison in the Ground - Alison Young and Peter Eisler
2012 ASSOCIATION FOR HEALTH CARE: EXCELLENCE IN HEALTH CARE JOURNALISM AWARD USA TODAY – First Place Winner – Investigative Reporting (Large) – Ghost Factories: Poison in the Ground - Alison Young, John Hillkirk and Peter Eisler
2012 EDITOR & PUBLISHER EPPY AWARD USA TODAY – Tied Winner - Best Enterprise/Investigative Video with 1 million unique monthly visitors and over – Ghost Factories: Poison in the Ground
2012 JOHN B. OAKES AWARD FOR DISTINGUISHED ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISM USA TODAY – Honorable Mention – Ghost Factories: Poison in the Ground – Alison Young and Peter Eisler
2012 SCRIPPS HOWARD AWARD USA TODAY – Finalist – Investigative Reporting – Ghost Factories: Poison in the Ground – Alison Young and Peter Eisler
2012 SOCIETY OF AMERICAN BUSINESS EDITORS AND WRITERS BEST IN BUSINESS AWARD USA TODAY – Winner – Innovation – Ghost Factories: Poison in the Ground – USA TODAY Staff
2012 BARLETT & STEELE AWARDS FOR INVESTIGATIVE BUSINESS JOURNALISM  USA TODAY – Silver Winner – Large Newspaper Category – Digital Storytelling and Reporting – Ghost Factories: Poison in the Ground - Alison Young, Peter Eisler and a newsroom-wide team ASSOCIATED PRESS MEDIA EDITORS AWARD USA TODAY – Winner - Large Newspaper Category – Digital Storytelling and Reporting Award - Ghost Factories: Poison in the Ground

31. Two Examples of Clean-ups
Loewenthal Metals, Chicago
Columbia Smelting & Refining, Brooklyn (Red Hook Park)

45. EPA Response, 2007 - 2014 Review of “Eckel list”
Inspector General report

55. Table 2-3- Sites Found on Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps in Selected Areas
Site Name City, State Map Reference
Harry Butter & Co. Dorchester, MA Boston, vol. 4, map 496
Nick Herman & Co Dorchester, MA Boston (1931) Vol. 9, map 980
Dixie Metal Baltimore, MD Baltimore, vol. 9, map 59
Industrial Metal Melting Baltimore, MD Baltimore, vol. 4, map 398
National Lead Baltimore, MD Baltimore, vol. 1, map 37
Cambridge Smelting Cambridge, MA Cambridge, vol. 1, map 66
Richards Co. Malden, MA Malden (1929) map 63
David Feinburg Medford, MA Medford, map 68