This spring, EnviroForensics assisted the Blackford County Concerned Citizens (BCCC) and the Hoosier Environmental Council (HEC) in investigations involving health concerns in Blackford County, IN. The area historically contained numerous glass factories and has recently faced high cancer rates and neurologic diseases cases. Darci Thomas, Project Manager at EnviroForensics, was integral in researching and testing the factory sites.
Darci’s work revealed that soil samples from Little League baseball fields in Montpelier, IN and Southside Elementary School in Hartford City, IN—two sites that had formerly hosted glass factories—contained the same levels of arsenic and lead as typical soil in that part of Indiana, dispelling any concern in those areas. Conversely, Darci’s soil testing helped to identify areas of elevated arsenic and lead concentrations at Hartford City’s Little League baseball field (formerly American Window Glass) and at a private property that was once Johnston Glass Company. Using this knowledge, HEC was able to instruct the private property owner, Hartford City and the parents of Little League players on how to safely use the properties.
These results were much appreciated by HEC. Jesse Kharbanda, Executive Director at HEC, and Indra Frank, Environmental Health Project Director at HEC, sent a letter thanking Darci and EnviroForensics for their work on the project. The full PDF of the letter can be found here: Hoosier Environmental Council Thank You Letter
EnviroForensics is honored to have worked on this important study and to have an excellent project manager such as Darci.
