95 Search Results for lead poisoning

Apr 24

2017

National focus on Buffalo lead poisoning

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Investigative Post has reported for years that Buffalo is Ground Zero for lead poisoning in upstate New York. But a new report by Reuters designates Buffalo as among the “most dangerous lead hotspots in America.” WGRZ’s Michael Wooten interviews Investigative Post reporter Dan Telvock about his investigations and how President Trump’s proposed cuts to lead programs could impede progress. Click here to read all of Investigative Post’s reporting on the city’s serious lead poisoning problem.

Posted 8 years ago

Mar 2

2017

State still behind the curve on lead poisoning

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The state Department of Health is providing free testing for lead in drinking water, but the $1.5 million allocated to the pilot program won’t go very far. At $70 per test, the program would provide testing for some 21,400 households across the state. Nonetheless, the program is a step in the right direction that will inform people about the dangers of lead poisoning and lead in drinking water. Lead is a toxic metal harmful to the developing brains and nervous systems of young children. But the state still falls short when it comes to combating lead poisoning, which remains a serious problem in[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Jan 26

2017

City schools want to test for lead poisoning

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A Buffalo Public Schools official says that the district wants to respond to the city’s serious lead poisoning problem with a sense of urgency. But a district proposal to test children for lead in schools is not getting support from the Erie County Health Department. “It just seems it would be so easy to test the untested children,” said Will Keresztes, the school district’s chief of intergovernmental affairs, planning and community engagement. “Why can’t that happen when the school district is so interested in making that happen?” This was just one of many policies and best practices discussed at a roundtable Thursday[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Jan 1

2017

Lead poisoning probe tops reader poll

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Dan Telvock’s reporting on Buffalo’s slipshod methods for testing drinking water for lead was voted by readers as Investigative Post’s top story of 2016. Looking for lead (in all the wrong places) edged out an investigation by Charlotte Keith into the awarding of a Buffalo Billion contract whose dynamics that bore a striking resemblance to the SolarCity factory deal that resulted in the filing of federal corruption charges. Between them, the two stories garnered 60 percent of the votes cast by readers. The best of the rest, according to voters, was Daniela Porat’s story about the inadequate training of Buffalo police[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Oct 18

2016

City Hall acts on lead poisoning

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The Common Council passed legislation Tuesday to address chipping and peeling lead paint hazards in rental units following years of reporting by Investigative Post on Buffalo’s serious lead poisoning problem. The new legislation requires landlords and property managers to: Permit inspectors to check for lead hazards on all rental units built before 1978. Certify that rental units built before 1978 are free of lead paint hazards by submitting a compliance letter from a licensed inspector. Disclose to renters that lead paint could be present in apartments built before 1978. Attend an accredited course on how to safely renovate, repair and paint[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Sep 22

2016

Podcast: Assemblyman Ryan on lead poisoning

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In this episode of Investigative Postcast, environmental reporter Dan Telvock talks to Assemblyman Sean Ryan about lead poisoning, which remains a serious problem in Buffalo. Ryan recently convened a roundtable in Rochester where experts and lawmakers discussed obstacles to eliminating childhood lead poisoning in the state. He said the group had a notable discussion about how insurance companies exclude lead paint injury coverage in homeowner’s policies, which is allowed by the Department of Insurance. “There is an exclusion saying ‘we won’t cover any damages as a result of lead poisoning,’ ” Ryan said. Ryan said he hopes to convene a similar[...]

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