Verite News environment reporter Tristan Baurick and health reporter Halle Parker teamed up to investigate how New Orleans residents are exposed to the toxic heavy metal lead. Although New Orleans’ history of lead contamination is well-known, local media hadn’t done a deep dive on the state of lead in the city for more than a decade. The neurotoxin’s significant risk to children pushed the team to conduct their own testing of soil in the majority of New Orleans’ public playgrounds.
After receiving a National Press Foundation’s Kozik Environmental Justice reporting grant, Baurick and Parker used a special sensor, known as an X-Ray Fluorescence Analyzer, to measure the lead levels in soil across 84 playgrounds over two weeks. The team used protocols developed with a nationally-renowned expert on lead in soil, Howard Mielke. The protocols were reviewed by three other scientists who study lead. After collecting more than 530 samples, we found unsafe lead levels in about half of the playgrounds. One of the scientists, Louisiana State University’s Adrienne Katner, verified the data, comparing the results to recent soil testing she had done in New Orleans playgrounds.
The reporters used their new findings to bring new attention to the ongoing issue of lead exposure, inform the community about the human health concerns associated with the heavy metal, and reveal past failures to fully remediate playgrounds with elevated lead levels through public records. To ensure the reporting was actionable, the team embedded a detailed interactive map and database of the results from each sample site in the story and on the project landing page.
To expand the story’s reach, our team produced a radio feature version of the story that aired on the local NPR station, WWNO New Orleans Public Radio. The radio feature brought the listener into a scene of the lead testing in action. The story was picked up and distributed by several local and national news outlets, including KFF Health News, the Louisiana Illuminator, and Grist. We also shared the news through a variety of social media videos and three community events.
Since publishing the story in February, New Orleans’ deputy mayor of health said the mayor’s office has started to plan additional lead testing at the city’s parks and requested $5 million for playground remediation through Congress, in part, crediting Verite’s reporting while speaking at one of our community events. The mayor also created a task force to revamp the recreation department and address lead contamination. The story was the first in a 3-part series.
