‘I’m angry every day’: Neighbor describes life next to an Eagan car battery recycling plant

Under the new EPA limit, two of the homes had soil that violated the threshold.

“There will not be any additional response at this time” based on those old samples, said Dan Ruiter, a spokesman for MCPA. “Lead in soil is common and difficult to get representative samples.”

If the new testing being conducted by the state now shows up above that level, however, “an investigation may be warranted,” Ruiter said.

The Minnesota Department of Health, which is in charge of the latest testing, said in an email that lead in soil can come from multiple sources, including leaded gasoline used last century, and lead paint chips. Most of the homes in Bur Oaks were built after leaded paint was banned.

“We only have a few samples left to test from Eagan, and all of the results to date have been well below [EPA screening levels],” wrote Stephanie Yendell, supervisor of MDH’s Health Risk Intervention Unit.

In a statement, Gopher Resource wrote that it was “committed not only to meeting but going above and beyond applicable environmental and health regulations.”