Inspections Turn Up Lead From Deteriorating Paint In Nearly 1,000 New York City Classrooms For Young Children
In the school department's first-of-a-kind report, it listed online which of the 5,408 pre-school and kindergarten classrooms it inspected had lead problems. Administrators stressed the 938 classrooms are safe, but parents who want to get free blood tests for their children were informed how to go about it. Lead exposure is a serious health risk for young children. News on environmental health hazards comes from Ohio, California and Georgia, as well.
The Wall Street Journal:
938 New York City Classrooms Tested Positive For Lead
New York City principals will notify thousands of parents of young children that their classrooms had cracked, chipped or peeling paint that tested positive for lead this summer, city officials said Thursday. In a round of inspections starting in June, contractors found lead in deteriorating paint in 938 public-school classrooms for children under 6 years old in 302 buildings, according to new Department of Education data. Its officials said these trouble spots will be fixed, typically by repainting, before school opens in September. (Brody, 8/1)
Cleveland Plain Dealer:
Cleveland Lead-Safe Law Could Drive Up Rents, Cost Property Owners $128.5 Million To Comply, Analysis Says
City rents could go up $100 per month, on average, to offset costs associated with testing and making rental units lead-safe, as required under a recently passed city law, according to an economic impact analysis commissioned by a local association of real estate professionals. The Akron Cleveland Association of Realtors (ACAR) commissioned the study after Cleveland City Council declined the group’s request to delay passage of the lead-poisoning prevention ordinance until the costs for property owners and renters and workforce needs could be more closely studied. (Dissell, 8/1)
KQED:
West Oakland Advocates Unhappy With EPA, City Agreement On Dirty Air
After negotiating for two years, federal environmental officials reached a voluntary settlement with the city and Port of Oakland over a discrimination complaint related to West Oakland's dirty air. The settlement outlines a series of goals to improve communication between the community, the city and the port. (Stark, 8/1)
Georgia Health News:
Kemp Administration Probing Ethylene Oxide Risk In Georgia
Gov. Brian Kemp’s office said Thursday that it’s investigating toxic pollution involving two medical device sterilization plants in metro Atlanta. An EPA report last year flagged two census tracts in the Smyrna area and one in Covington — along with dozens of other areas in the United States — for higher risks of cancer, driven largely by airborne releases of ethylene oxide, a gas used by sterilization facilities. (Goodman and Miller, 8/1)
