Sixty-one House Democrats are demanding the Trump administration relocate tons of White House demolition debris from a public golf course after a report found it contains elevated concentrations of dangerous heavy metals.
Washington-area lawmakers — Maryland Reps. Jamie Raskin and Glenn Ivey, Virginia Rep. Don Beyer and District of Columbia Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton — spearheaded a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on Friday demanding he “immediately and safely remove” the dirt dumped on the East Potomac Golf Course following President Donald Trump’s razing of the East Wing.
Testing data commissioned by the National Park Service released last month revealed the soil contains levels of arsenic, lead and other dangerous chemicals that could pose health risks.
“For nearly eight months, golfers, cyclists, runners, fishermen and members of the public have been exposed to such debris,” the lawmakers wrote. “These contaminants are embedded in debris piles just feet away from the banks of the Potomac River, an important tributary of the Chesapeake Bay where people fish and row.”
