Limited progress on lead poisoning

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In the second of a two-part series, Investigative Post reports on limited progress being made by local government officials to address lead poisoning in low-income neighborhoods on the city’s East and West Side.

The Erie County Health Department has concentrated its inspections for lead paint to houses in at-risk neighborhoods where children live. Meanwhile, Mayor Byron Brown said he’s willing to have City Hall consider teaming with the county to deal with the problem. A similar effort by officials in Rochester and Monroe County has proved successful.

Investigative Post reported Thursday that nearly 500 children in three ZIP codes comprising the West Side and a large portion of the East Side were diagnosed with elevated levels of lead in their blood for the three years ending in 2012. Those neighborhoods accounted for three of the four ZIP codes reporting the most new cases of high lead readings in all of Upstate New York in recent years.