I worked in telecom in the 1990's. A politician made a big deal of lead from old home cables back then. My boss explained that the lead had leeched out already,

I worked in telecom in the 1990's. A politician made a big deal of lead from old home cables back then. My boss explained that the lead had leeched out already, and pulling up the cabled just disturbed / unearthed lead contaminated soil that was better left in place. There is no non-manual-labor way to remove the lead contaminated soil with the cables. Any effective remediation will kill many workers. The same was true of asbestos remediation. It was better to leave it in place, but that never stopped a well meaning idiot from contaminating a whole building pulling out perfectly safe and effective insulation.