----- Original Message -----
To: Jathan Kron
Sent: Monday, October 19, 2009 12:34
Subject: RE: Lead wheel weight research
Hi
What an impressive effort you've made. Your website
will be very helpful as the
bill I've introduced proceeds through the
Legislature.
I will certainly contact you if we should need more
information.
Best wishes
Spencer Black
State Representative
Dear Rep. Black,
We commend you for introducing a
bill to prohibit
the installation, sale, and distribution of lead weights
in Wisconsin.
Our West Branch Middle School science team "Dead
Weight"
has won state and national recognition because
of our research concerning the hazards of lead wheel
weights.
We convinced our West Branch Iowa City Council, Police and
Fire Department, and all
school district vehicles to switch to balancing their
tires with steel wheel weights.
We recently partnered with Dr Robert Root of Albuquerque
New Mexico and
the University of Iowa Hygienic Lab to test steel and
lead wheel weights
using environmentally simulated EPA certified TCLP
(Toxic Characteristic Leaching Protocol ) landfill, weather and highway conditions.
We wanted to use a credible testing procedure that the EPA
and our Iowa state Department of Natural Resources could
not easily ignore.
The test results were astonishing. Our credible UIHL
lead wheel weight test results
suggest that one ounce of
wheel weight lead can potentially contaminate over
one million liters of water (or
approximately 250,000 gallons of water).
Steel wheel weights are eco friendly, readily available
and do not need
to be separated from a car or truck body to be
recycled.
Steel wheel weights can be easily recycled with the entire
automotive body.
Currently there is a slight, but not substantial cost
difference.
And if your honorable constituents
want to emphasize cost you might comment
to them that it is far less expensive to balance
tires with steel wheel weights
than it is to recover discarded lead and lead that has
readily converted to
lead compounds from our
environment.
We have presented our results in person at the United
Nations and to Lisa Jackson
and Linda Barr from the EPA. Our
research resulted in Team "Dead Weight" winning
first place in the Siemen's "We
Can Change the world Challenge". We were invited to
Boston, New York City and Washington DC to present our
"hazards of lead wheel weights"
presentation that are still available on line for viewing
if you peruse our website links.
We invite you to visit our website at
We also partnered with Iowa legislators in late 2008 to
introduce
3 different lead wheel weight bills to our Iowa Policymakers. Although we did not
get passage last year we are going to the Iowa
State house
again this year to give it another try.
Charles Magulis from the California Center for
Environmental Health
and Jeff Gearhart from the
Michigan Ecology Center has given our science team
substantial credit for being instrumental in the EPA reversing
their 2005
refusal to ban lead wheel weights. The EPA now has agreed
to formulate
new rules banning the sale,
distribution and installation of lead wheel weights.
Our lead wheel weight research is very thorough and
comprehensive.
You do not have to "google" the entire internet
concerning lead wheel weights.
Just go to our website and follow all of the text and iconic links to view
all of our lead wheel weight
environmental research and links to other
very important lead wheel weight
research conducted by others such as
Dr Robert Root and the CEH.
Legislative information and "timelines"
You are welcome to use our research and photos if you
like.
We would consider it an honor if you contact us
for any help
that you might need in the passage
of your very important environmental bill.
If time allows we may be available to present
our lead wheel weight research to the appropriate
Wisconsin legislative committee contemplating
your well written lead wheel weight ban bill.
We are very excited and appreciative of your efforts
concerning
the phase out and ban of lead
wheel weights in Wisconsin.
"It is
important that we make sure that the water we drink
and the air
we breathe is free of lead."
Sincerely Yours,
Jathan Kron
West Branch Middle School
West Branch Iowa 52358