Tag: Lead poisoning

May 5

2016

Lawmakers balk at Poloncarz’s lead proposal

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The Erie County Legislature passed on another opportunity Thursday to approve the county executive’s $3.75 million lead prevention plan that includes eight new employees to inspect homes and help families that have children with elevated blood lead levels. Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown’s 11-point lead hazard control plan released Wednesday was not enough to persuade county legislators to move forward with a separate action plan proposed by County Executive Mark Poloncarz. The city’s commissioner and assistant director of permits and inspection services told county legislators Thursday afternoon that the city plan focuses on education, collaboration with the county health department and[...]

Posted 9 years ago

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 27

2016

Buffalo snubs county on lead poisoning

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Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz’s lead prevention proposal is stuck in the County Legislature’s Finance and Management Committee after city officials twice declined invitations to appear to answer questions. The absence of city officials at these committee meetings is a continuation of a pattern on the part of City Hall officials, which Poloncarz administration officials fear is playing into the hands of suburban Republican legislators who appear reluctant to support the county executive’s initiative. Majority Leader Joseph Lorigo said during an April 7 committee meeting that he had invited Louis Petrucci, the city’s assistant director of permit and inspection services,[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Apr 20

2016

Quick Hit: Who’ll get the lead out?

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One word sums up the exchange between Erie County Legislator Kevin Hardwick and Health Commissioner Gale Burstein about lead poisoning prevention funding: awkward. Hardwick cited Investigative Post’s lead poisoning reporting during an April 7 Finance and Management Committee meeting when he asked if Burstein or anyone else with the county had inquired with city officials about what additional role, if any, the city might be willing to commit to. The Erie County Health Department has primary responsibility for inspecting homes for lead hazards and employs 12 health sanitarians who inspect about 2,500 housing units a year. Burstein has said they[...]

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 24

2016

Quick Hit: Buffalo Water has no answers on lead

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The Buffalo Water Board’s one-page info sheet about its lead testing program fails to provide much substance, especially for a city that still has a serious lead poisoning problem involving its housing stock. The water board’s online info sheet is in response to the catastrophe with Flint, Michigan’s water supply. What the water board has yet to release is the number of service lines – the stretch of pipe of that connects houses with water mains running under streets – that contain lead. The topic has not surfaced in any of board meeting minutes for at least three years. I[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Mar 13

2016

Outrages: A start in dealing with lead

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Steve Brown and I discuss the first bit of movement to address Buffalo’s lead problem on this week’s video edition of Outrages & Insights. I said that Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz is showing some leadership in making his proposal to hire more inspectors and lower the threshold that riggers medical intervention in children who test positive for lead in their blood. But I also note that Poloncarz’s proposal is only a start and that the problem demands a much greater commitment of resources beyond just the county. Where is City Hall in all this? So far, nowhere to be[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Mar 9

2016

Poloncarz leads on lead while Brown dithers

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There’s been chatter about the need for someone to step up and champion the cause of reducing lead hazards in the city. I wouldn’t say Erie County Mark Poloncarz seized the leadership mantle Wednesday, but he became the first local official to advance a meaningful proposal for addressing the issue. So, considering the political landscape, he has become a giant among midgets. Poloncarz announced an initiative that has several important components: The county Health Department would hire six additional inspectors to complement the 12½ already on staff to conduct housing inspections for lead and other health violations. A nurse and[...]

Posted 9 years ago
Investigative Post