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UTEP Soils Are Safe

Release Date: 8/24/2001
Contact Information: For more information contact the Office of External Affairs at (214) 665-2200.

     A health consultation to be released Monday, Aug. 27, concludes that the levels of lead and arsenic found on the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) campus are not a health threat for the students and staff.

     The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), along with the Texas Department of Health, has completed a health consultation on the UTEP portion of the El Paso metals survey site. The health consultation evaluated the soil data EPA recently collected at UTEP.

     The ATSDR states, in part, "the arsenic and lead in soil do not pose a public health hazard to any of the potentially exposed populations."

      ATSDR acts as EPA's health advisor. Based on the consultation, EPA plans no further action at UTEP.