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HUD Awards $93 Million for Projects Addressing Lead-Based Paint Hazards

Monday, September 19, 2011

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The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded $3 million each to Chicago, Houston, and several other city, state and county jurisdictions to evaluate and eliminate lead-based paint hazards in homes, conduct community outreach programs and train workers in lead-safe measures.

The funds are part of a $93 million program aimed at remediating lead-based paint hazards and other health and safety dangers, HUD announced. The funds are provided through HUD’s Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control and Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration grant programs.

A project-by-project summary of the programs is available here.

The department announced that the funding is expected to clean up lead and other health hazards in nearly 7,000 privately-owned, low-income housing units nationwide.

“Protecting the health and well-being of children is a top priority for HUD. We know that housing conditions directly affect the health of its occupants,” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. “These grants will help communities around the nation to protect families from lead exposure and other significant health and safety hazards.”

“It’s simple: you can’t be healthy if your home is sick,” HUD said in announcing the grants.

Along with lead-hazard control work, some of the funds will be used to promote and develop programs to identify and address multiple housing-related health hazards with lead-hazard control intervention work, the department said.

Through its grant programs, HUD’s Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control promotes local efforts to eliminate dangerous lead hazards from lower income homes; stimulates private sector investment in lead hazard control; and educates the public about the dangers of lead-based paint, the department said.

The federal government banned lead-based paint from housing in 1978. Lead is a toxin that can impair children’s development and have effects lasting into adulthood.

Lead Hazard Control Grant Programs

HUD estimated that approximately 24 million homes still have significant lead-based paint hazards today, despite the federal government’s 1978 ban on lead-based paint in residential housing. 

Lead-contaminated dust is the primary cause of lead exposure and can lead to a variety of health problems in young children, including learning disabilities, reduced IQ, reduced height, developmental delays, and impaired hearing, the department noted.

At higher levels, the department said lead can damage a child’s kidneys and central nervous system and cause anemia, convulsions, coma, and sometimes death.

The funding directs “critical funds” to cities, counties and states to eliminate dangerous lead-paint hazards.

The following is a state-by-state breakdown of the funding.

State	Grantee	Amount
Arizona	City of Phoenix	$2,475,000
California	City and County of San Francisco	$2,500,000
	City of Pomona	$2,475,000
	City of South Lake Tahoe	$2,000,000
	County of Alameda	$2,134,863
	City of Fresno	$2,475,000
Connecticut	State of Connecticut	$3,000,000
	City of Waterbury	$2,475,000
Delaware	City of Wilmington	$2,589,695
Illinois	City of Chicago	$3,000,000
	Winnebago County Health Department	$2,885,700
	County of Peoria	$2,475,000
	County of Kane	$1,040,796
Indiana	Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County	$3,000,000
Iowa	City of Davenport	$2,475,000
	Polk County	$2,475,000
	City of Waterloo	$1,705,557
Kentucky	Kentucky Department for Public Health	$1,099,971
Massachusetts	City of Boston	$2,475,000
	City of Lynn	$2,469,051
	Malden Redevelopment Authority-City of Malden	$3,000,000
Michigan	City of Lansing	$1,728,605
	County of Muskegon	$1,100,000
Minnesota	Hennepin County	$3,000,000
Missouri	St. Louis Community Development Administration	$3,000,000
New York	Erie County	$2,375,000
North Carolina	City of High Point	$2,475,000
Ohio	City of Columbus	$3,000,000
Pennsylvania	City of Philadelphia	$3,000,000
	Redevelopment Authority of the City of Erie	$2,475,000
Tennessee	City of Memphis	$3,000,000
Texas	City of Austin	$2,500,000
	City of San Antonio	$3,000,000
	County of Harris	$2,700,000
	Houston Department of Health and Human Services	$3,000,000
Vermont	City of Burlington	$2,475,000
Virginia	City of Petersburg	$1,100,000
	City of Roanoke	$1,855,733
Wisconsin	City of Waukesha	$1,100,000
	TOTAL	$93,109,971

Comment from Catherine Brooks, (9/20/2011, 2:10 PM)

The federal assistance for lead paint removal is commendable. The down side is that the majority of programs merely rip out perfectly strong, wood windows that have just peeling paint. They trash the lead paint coated windows in the dump and replace them with vinyl ones. These vinyl windows off gas as well as deteriorate after 10-15 years. They must be replaced again. How economical and how much health and energy efficiency do these replacement windows really provide? Instead of training folks just to demolish old windows and replace them, how about giving them the broader skills of repairing, restoring, and weatherizing old windows. That kind of job-skills training can be expanded to be used in the millions of restoration projects waiting to be started in schools, government buildings, etc. This would create not just temporary jobs but new craftspeople with a trade which is marketable.

Comment from Robert Burke, Burke Painting Company in Wilmington, DE, (10/6/2011, 9:53 AM)

What a great comment Catherine Brooks! I am going to contact the one in charge of this in The City of Wilmington, DE and see how I can become a part of this project!

Comment from Robert Burke, Burke Painting Company in Wilmington, DE, (10/7/2011, 8:27 AM)

Well, Can't get through with email address listed for City of Wilmington. I will find a way, nothing is easy these days!

Comment from Catherine Brooks, (10/17/2011, 9:48 AM)

Robert, Call Timothy Crawl-Bey, Director, Real Estate and Housing, 302-576-3000, trawl-bey@wilmingtonde.gov. Or go to their website: http://www.wilmingtonde.gov/government/housing. I am working on a similar project in the small historic town of Chestertown on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay in MD. With all the colonial history in these towns and the unemployment rates horrible, these kinds of collaborative projects must begin!

Comment from Robert Burke, Burke Painting Company in Wilmington, DE, (10/17/2011, 4:32 PM)

Thanks catherine! Are you having any trouble finding decent employees in your area who want to work?

Comment from Catherine Brooks, (10/20/2011, 9:39 PM)

The remodeling contractors I know are.