BALTIMORE COUNTY (WBFF) — State environmental regulators have opened up another investigation, this time in Baltimore County, after tests confirmed lead-contaminated paint chips are falling from a section of Interstate 95 in Halethorpe.
Inspectors with the Maryland Department of the Environment found paint chips scattered around the I-95 bridge at the intersection of Arbutus and Potomac avenues, including on sidewalks, roadways, railroad tracks, grassy areas and inside storm drains, according to a state report dated Monday. This is the third aging bridge in the region found to be shedding paint chips since February.
Lab testing showed the flakes contained extremely high levels of lead — measuring 330,000 and 420,000 milligrams per kilogram, far above the reporting threshold of 63 milligrams per kilogram. The samples also contained polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, toxic industrial chemicals banned from production in 1979…