The Cumberland County Soil & Water Conservation District (CCSWCD) has been awarded $30,000 through the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Healthy Communities Program to educate home gardeners on the effects of soil lead contamination in the greater Portland, Maine region . This two-year project builds on work completed from a Healthy Communities Grant awarded in 2019 by expanding the geographic area served to include all of Portland and Westbrook (with additional locations as resources allow). There will be an emphasis on outreach to parents of young children as well as New Americans. Exposure pathways through edible foods will be further examined with additional plant tissue tests and the addition of chicken eggs tests.

2019-2021 Project Highlights Include:

• 191 soil samples collected

• 68% contained heavy or minor lead levels

• 29 plant tissue samples collected

• Initial results found a potential correlation between plant texture and lead concentration

• 100 action plans delivered to gardeners

• 3 multilingual factsheets created

• 14 media spotlights

2021-2023 Project Tasks Include:

• Update & Translate Outreach Materials with region specific information about gardening in soil with lead contamination.

• Collect up to 250 soil samples from home gardeners in Portland, Westbrook, and adjacent urbanized areas, over the two-year grant period. All sampling costs will be covered by grant funds.

• Provide detailed action plans for participating gardeners along with results of soil sampling. Action plans will be tailored to an individual's gardening practices and found lead level.

• Collect up to 50 samples of plant tissue or chicken eggs across sites found to contain higher lead levels.

• Update anonymized heatmap of soil lead results with new samples and present findings to public. (See current heatmap)

FREE Soil Screening is now available to gardeners in Portland and Westbrook! Register here. Additional project background and information can be found on our Agriculture page.

FMI:

Damon Yakovleff, Environmental Planner
Cumberland County Soil & Water Conservation District

dyakovleff@cumberlandswcd.org
(207) 892-4700