Environment

California’s Dept. of Public Health: A Timeline of Failure

See the full story by Joe Rubin.

Published

October 22, 2019

Photo showing lead mottling under air vents at Target Masters West. (Photo: Department of Toxic Substances Control)

Last spring a Capital & Main investigation resulted in the closure of a gun range and a children’s gymnastics facility in the Bay Area after tests showed elevated levels of lead inside both businesses. Here are the slow-motion efforts taken by California’s Department of Public Health to alert parents of children who trained at the gym.

Timeline created by Marco Amador

TIMELINE

2018

August 21, 2018:

Capital & Main alerts the California Dept. of Public Health (CDPH) about potential lead contamination of the Target Masters West gun range in Milpitas, CA.

2019

February 2, 2019:

Capital & Main alerts the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) about the possible gun range contamination.

March 30, 2019:

DTSC finds high concentrations of lead particulate on Target Masters West’s roof and at front door of Sweet’s Gymnasium.

May 1, 2019:

CDPH and Santa Clara County find major lead contamination inside Target Masters West and lead dust coating surfaces inside Sweet’s Gymnasium.

May 3, 2019:

Santa Clara County Department of Public Health closes Target Masters West and Sweet’s Gymnastics.

May 3, 2019:

CDPH and Santa Clara County draft a letter advising parents of children who attended Sweet’s Gymnastics that they may want to have them examined for lead exposure, as a result of contamination found in the next-door gun range.

May 11, 2019:

The letter is finalized, leaving out reference to the gun range. Santa Clara County says it mailed letters on “rolling basis” in May after officials reached parents by phone.

May 27, 2019

Thirteen families still have not been contacted by CDPH and Santa Clara County.

August 20, 2019:

CDPH tells Capital & Main only one child has tested positive for lead poisoning. CDPH says only 61 of the 156 children known to have visited Sweet’s Gymnastics have been tested.

August, 20, 2019:

CDPH refuses to provide dates of when children were tested or results, claiming doing so would violate their privacy.

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