Lead pollution in flooded and non‐flooded areas in ST. Maries, Idaho

Abstract

An analysis of 96 samples collected in the floodplain near the confluence of the St. Joe and St. Maries River in the vicinity of St. Maries, Idaho, reveals that lead pollution in soil is not a significant problem in this small town. Only one sample contained levels that would be considered hazardous to human health. When recreational, agricultural, industrial, residential, commercial, and sewage application land uses are compared, it is clear that residential soils are most likely to be elevated in lead even though the one contaminated sample was collected from an agricultural field. A comparison of samples collected from recently flooded and recently non‐flooded areas reveals that the highest levels of lead were found in areas recently flooded. This counters the assumption that flooding dilutes soil contamination.

Key words:

• Lead
• soil contamination
• flood
• Idaho