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Nov 7

2016

Water Authority cut corners in lead program

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The Erie County Water Authority is cutting corners in its testing program for lead in the drinking water supplied to most local suburbs. The authority has historically made little effort to meet a federal mandate to test homes deemed most at risk for lead contamination. In fact, Investigative Post found several examples where the authority tested houses that clearly do not meet the criteria. “If this monitoring is flawed, if this monitoring it not actually targeting the highest risk homes, then consumers may be receiving erroneous information and false assurances about how safe the water is,” said Yanna Lambrinidou, a[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Oct 31

2016

Podcast: Dan Telvock on lead reporting

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In this episode of Investigative Postcast, Investigative Post’s environment reporter Dan Telvock discusses his award-winning coverage of Western New York’s lead poisoning problem, which has recently prompted the City of Buffalo to introduce new initiatives to combat the problem. Telvock explains why lead poisoning poses such a threat to young children and why New York’s schools are now testing their water for lead, thanks to an emergency law passed earlier this year. “In the past, they really didn’t do it on a regular basis. Our schools never were really aggressively testing for lead in any of the water sources in[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Oct 20

2016

Buffalo beefs up efforts to test water for lead

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Mayor Byron Brown proclaimed Wednesday that Buffalo’s water is “lead safe” after samples from more than 150 homes showed results below the federal government’s standard. “Still, we know people are concerned and we felt it was imperative that we do more in Buffalo to reassure our residents that we are using best practices and doing everything we can to make sure our water supply and distribution system is safe,” Brown said. The mayor announced a series of new initiatives that he said go above and beyond what the federal Environmental Protection Agency requires water utilities to do to ensure drinking[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Oct 4

2016

Poloncarz open to expanded lead testing

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Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz stopped short of requiring his health department to mandate tap water sampling in homes where children are already diagnosed with high lead levels, but he did say that “maybe we do need to take additional steps, such as testing the water.” He said testing drinking water for lead might make sense in the event county health inspectors fail to find any lead paint problems in the home. His remarks come a little over a month after Investigative Post reported that disparity, ‘cheating’ and potential conflicts plague Buffalo’s sampling program for lead in drinking water. While[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Aug 25

2016

Lead in water story on WBFO

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Dan Telvock of Investigative Post reports on shortcomings in the city program to test drinking water for lead. Telvock found the program is beset with slipshod methods and puts more effort into testing predominantly white enclaves with few lead poisoning than in the inner-city neighborhoods where the problem is concentrated. Nevertheless, Mayor Byron Brown said he’s “not concerned.” Web version of story featuring interactive graphics and three reports produced for WGRZ is here. Capitol Pressroom interview with Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney is here.

Posted 9 years ago

Aug 22

2016

Looking for lead (in all the wrong places)

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Neighborhoods on the city’s East and Lower West Sides are “ground zero” for the worst lead poisoning problems in all of Upstate New York. Lead paint is considered the culprit, but the crisis in Flint, Michigan, has raised questions about the safety of the drinking water in cities like Buffalo. The testing program used by Buffalo to determine whether drinking water is safe does not target the minority neighborhoods where the lead poisoning problem is concentrated, an analysis by Investigative Post has found. Instead, the city has focused on predominantly white neighborhoods in North and South Buffalo that report few,[...]

Posted 9 years ago

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

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