Categories for In-Depth

May 3

2016

Lead poisoning worse than previously disclosed

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Buffalo’s lead poisoning problem – already recognized as serious – is much worse than previously reported by state and local health officials. Officials to this point have only released data that shows the number of children with blood levels that exceed the state’s threshold. Those numbers approached 300 last year. But new data obtained by Investigative Post shows that the number of children whose lead levels exceed a stricter federal threshold exceeded an estimated 1,100. Put another way: At least three times more children have harmful blood lead levels than previously disclosed. This in a city already regarded as Ground[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Apr 13

2016

Council ignores warning on lead test kits

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The Common Council’s chief response to the city’s lead poisoning problem involves a commitment to distribute lead test kits to residents that one expert has termed a “very dangerous idea” with the potential for “extremely hazardous” results. No fewer than three experts challenged the wisdom of the Council’s plan in interviews with Investigative Post, including one who shared her concerns in writing last month with the office of Masten Council Member Ulysees Wingo. Those warnings have not been shared with other members, even when the test kits were discussed during Tuesday’s Council meeting. “Overall, I think there is a strong national[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Mar 29

2016

Buffalo failing to enforce diversity law

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  Mayor Byron Brown has done a lot of talking about the need to provide job opportunities for people of color. He’s pushed some 210 businesses and organizations to sign his “Opportunity Pledge” and spoken in favor of apprentice programs that give young workers a foot in the door of the construction trades. The mayor, however, has failed to use a powerful tool at his disposal to promote diversity in the workforce. City Hall under Brown has failed to enforce a law that mandates the employment of apprentices on city-financed capital projects. “They do not enforce it at all,” said[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Mar 10

2016

State behind curve on lead poisoning

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New York State is failing to keep up with at least two federal initiatives aimed at combating lead poisoning in children, a particular problem in Buffalo. The state has failed to adopt federal standards that would improve lead abatement practices, resulting in a near absence of enforcement actions to discourage shoddy workmanship. New York officials have also failed to adopt a more stringent federal standard for what constitutes a concerning level of lead in blood tests that would trigger medical intervention. While New York as a whole lags in dealing with its lead problem, the effort in Buffalo is especially[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Mar 2

2016

Quick Hit: Buffalo’s lead poisoning problem

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In the past two weeks, Governor Andrew Cuomo, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, and US Senator Charles Schumer have each sounded a call for action in Buffalo, where lead poisoning remains a significant problem. Whether the calls get answered on the local level is another story.

Posted 9 years ago

Feb 24

2016

iPost diversity report on WBFO

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Charlotte Keith of Investigative Post reports on a lack of diversity in the construction trade unions in Buffalo and Western New York. This story broadcast Wednesday on WBFO and is a companion to a story published Tuesday by Investigative Post. Produced by Jeffrey Mayne.

Posted 9 years ago

Feb 23

2016

Buffalo trade unions lagging in diversity

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  Construction in Buffalo is booming. SolarCity. Children’s Hospital. The University at Buffalo Medical School. Taxpayer-funded projects like these are employing thousands of union construction workers. But the boom has resurrected concerns that the unions have made little progress over the past decade in diversifying their membership. While minorities make up 17 percent of Erie County’s workforce and more than half of the city’s population, they account for only 11 percent of unionized construction workers, according to the most recent figures available. What’s more, there’s been virtually no change in the racial makeup of the building trades over the past[...]

Posted 9 years ago
Investigative Post