A Northern Kentucky University class has conducted soil sampling and testing around River Metals Recycling in Newport.
The testing comes amid controversy about the daily operations of River Metals Recycling, where residents have expressed concern over the release of chemicals they worry could be harmful to neighbors. The study was not done in conjunction with the EPA and results are not yet being released because the study isn’t complete.
“This initial portion of the pilot study leads us to believe a connection could exist though further analysis has to occur,” Newport Westside resident Annette Kitchen said.
NKU Professor of Biological Sciences Christine Curran presented to the Clifton Neighborhood Association Tuesday on her students’ progress and possible findings during the preliminary study. The Clifton Neighborhood Association members have spearheaded efforts to improve the daily operation practices at River Metals Recycling, also known locally as RMR. Soil testing is the third endeavor by residents, with noise and air quality components currently underway.
“If we build this and can record and understand this is absolutely a pilot study to give you some information that you may then be able to go back to US EPA or other government agencies and ask for their standard methods that have to be done under highly controlled conditions,” Curran said. “So that’s why we’re not putting the ‘on this street we found this on this street we found that.’”
Curran’s environmental toxicology class partnered with the neighborhood association to conduct soil testing for a service-learning project.
She said the idea with the soil testing was to go out into the neighborhoods, see where the metals were, and try to develop a profile and get some test samples. Newport residents near RMR volunteered to have the soil on their property tested. Students also went to sites like the adjacent New Riff West Newport Campus, where they could collect over a day.
“Once we know what the profile of the RMR dust is, we can go back and say, ‘Oh, yes, this matches what we’re seeing at various distances from the facility,’” Curran said.
The class split into teams of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) soil testers, Volatile organic compounds, also known as VOCs, Environmental Protection Agency alert, human health, water quality, and environmental toxicology. The class heard from Newport Commissioner Ken Rechtin about the ongoing issues surrounding the RMR site and reviewed Environmental Protection Agency alerts.
“So where are these metal shredders?” Curran said. “What are they emitting? And how does that apply to the regulations? We have the federal Clean Air Act—the national ambient air quality standards—and then looked at how that affected control strategies.”
They also looked at the content of toxicology, heavy metals, and volatile organic chemicals. They conducted risk assessment and management and held regular team meetings and progress reports.
“In each case, they had to learn what it is, what is the dose that becomes a concern, and you can find something, but it may not be at a high enough level,” Curran said. “So, they’re constantly applying principles of toxicology to what they learned.”
Overall, the class tested 16 sites varying in distance and elevation. Multiple samples were taken and analyzed on-site with X-ray fluorescence for 30 seconds. Two to three places within the site were tested, and each location was tested two to three times.
“It shoots a beam of X-rays, and then that creates a fluorescent pattern that is unique for each of the metals, and that’s how it figures it out, and the stronger the signal, the more—so it gives us the amount of metal and parts per million, and then we can create this profile from each site.”
They also measure using X-ray diffraction, which looks for the crystal structure of the metals. Curran said this gives them a unique fingerprint, so they will have information not only on the metal but also the form it’s in.
“So two techniques, and this is the replication that will give us higher confidence in what we find,” Curran said. “So even for a pilot study, we want to be as careful and cautious as we can.”
Curran said there can also be factors that can affect results, like a busy highway, construction sites, or an old house with lead paint.
One of the things Curran said that literature is telling them about metal shredders like the kind RMR uses is that in addition to the VOCs and heavy metals, there is also now significant scientific evidence for the PFAS. Curran said PFAS chemicals are found in Teflon; they were originally used for nonstick coatings, water repellent, and stain resistance, so they were widely used. They are also widely used in the automotive industry, and when they are shredded, there is a risk of exposure.
“As you’re trying to recycle the metals, you can be releasing these PFAS components,” Curran said.
Heavy metals were one of the prime focuses for the students. Curran said the big ones associated with metal shredders are cadmium, mercury, and lead.
“Cadmium can accumulate in your kidneys, leading to kidney failure and dysfunction. It can also accumulate in the bones. So, wherever you have calcium in the body, it’s got two positive charges. The cadmium also has two positive charges, so it can displace the calcium, and that’s what leads to the adverse effects.”
Both mercury and lead are highly neurotoxic, Curran said, particularly to the developing brain.
She said they know from studies that welders and people living near manganese smelters, like in Marietta, Ohio, can have neurotoxic effects. She said manganese can cause things like Parkinson’s disease.
“These metal shredding facilities are notorious for the explosions and the fires,” Curran said. “They’re highly toxic and can cause all sorts of human health impacts. You have the flammability and the danger problem. Once you have an explosion, you’re converting whatever is there into something else, which tends to be something that’s persistent and nasty, like dioxins.”
So, who is at risk?
If it lives in the area, Curran said it is at risk. That includes household pets, local flora and fauna, terrestrial and aquatic, and humans in Newport.
A question was brought up during the meeting by Kitchen, who asked how the particles and toxins could affect the Newport community gardens.
“One student had indicated that there are certain vegetables, certain plants that will absorb all of these chemicals, and if we’re eating these directly from our garden and we’re just digesting them,” Kitchen said. “I know my takeaway after last week from your students: I thought I will never eat a tomato that grows in my yard unless I have that indoors. I just won’t do it.”
Curran said that with RMR’s close proximity to the Licking River, the heavy metals, VOCs, and PFAS could fall into the water. She said the species that would be sensitive would be things that people catch, like small and largemouth bass, catfish, and bluegill.
Curran said there are other public areas and parks they could return to and expand their studies with. She said the general snapshot of what they found was most of their heavier readings were in the areas down lower, directly adjacent to, or within a few blocks of RMR.
Westside resident Catherine McElwain said her soil was tested as part of the research. McElwain said where she lives, she can see particulate matter falling to the point where she could write her name in the particles on her grill. McElwain asked Curran if the study could do a sample size from something like her grill covered from pollutants falling from the sky.
Curran said that is what they would like to do for part two of the study because that is going to be the best estimate.
The student’s recommendations and control strategies for RMR include depolluting before shredding, such as stripping volatile compounds prior to shredding, using a pre-shredder, and enforcing a list of restricted compounds. They also suggested encapsulation and air treatment filters, such as activated carbon filters that absorb harmful particles.
