Introduction: Community Outreach and the Community Advisory Group

Community has always been an essential part to solving any complex problem in any society, and it is no exception here in Omaha when it came time to figure out how to clean up the lead contamination across the easternmost part of the city. The contamination, stemming from decades of industrial smelting operations, has affected thousands of homes and poses serious health risks to residents, particularly young children. Lead exposure can cause irreversible developmental delays, learning disabilities, and behavior problems. The EPA has established Community Advisory Groups at critical Superfund sites across the country so that residents living in contaminated areas have a fair say in the cleanup process of their communities. The Community Advisory Group here in Omaha has been a key component in making sure the many groups responsible for cleaning up the largest residential superfund site in the United States keep to their promises and mitigate the damage to Omaha’s most vulnerable populations.

This exhibit highlights how the Community Advisory Group, created in January of 2004,  has evolved in its outreach focus during the four years of them meeting across Eastern Omaha from 2004-2008. This exhibit highlights many of their successes and struggles as the Community Advisory Group engaged with many parts of the community in Eastern Omaha by spreading important, factual information, so families and residents are aware of the many dangers lead poses to them and most importantly young children who live in these areas with high lead concentration.