"Contaminated Soil Lingers Where Apples Once Grew"

"YAKIMA, Wash. — At homes and day care centers throughout Central Washington, children play in yards contaminated with lead and arsenic.

The state’s Department of Ecology knows about this, and has for decades.

But many parents and caregivers still do not, despite the risks these chemicals pose specifically to children.

Until the 1950s, Northwest apple growers spent decades spraying lead arsenate pesticides in a never-ceasing battle against the codling moth, which once threatened the country’s most productive tree fruit region."
 
Tony Schick and Courtney Flatt report for EarthFix/Oregon Public Broadcasting October 12, 2015.