The EPA Heralds Its Omaha Cleanup as a Success. But We Found Many Yards Still Have Toxic Levels of Lead.

Reporting Highlights Over the Limit: One in 10 Omaha yards we tested that the EPA cleaned up still has enough lead in the dirt to be over the agency’s threshold. Nearby Toxins: Nearly all previously remediated homes the news organizations’ testing found to have excessive levels had a neighbor whose yard tested high but was never cleaned up. New Levels: Nearly a quarter of east Omaha yards we tested surpass a new lead level set by Trump’s EPA that could trigger more cleanup. These highlights were written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story. Shortly after buying her house in 2022, Mary Royers learned from a man across the street that her Omaha, Nebraska, neighborhood was contaminated with lead. But her yard, like thousands of others, had been cleaned up, the neighbor said.