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Photo courtesy John Winters Thanks to The Boren Foundation, and Jack and Karen Kay Leonard for making this website possible. |
IKE Lead-Safe Indiana Task Force Newsletter
January 2002 Edition
This is the first edition of the Lead-Safe Indiana Newsletter. Based on the success of the Nov 2002 Conference, we decided that we needed to get key information out to more people at least bimonthly. However, since we operate on a shoestring budget, we plan to rely on email and website distribution.
Please let Tom Neltner (editor) know what you think, add articles, or, if you really want hard copy, ask for a fax version. We welcome your feedback!
Mark Your Calendar!
Nov. 6 & 7 - 2002 Lead-Safe Indiana Conference in Indy
March 14 - IKE Lead-Safe Indiana Task Force and ISDH Lead Advisory Group - 9:30 to 3:30 at Forest Manor Clinic in Indy. Moved from March 13.
New Faces & Roles: Ellen Schellhause has left HealthVisions and is available as a consultant to help your projects succeed. Alison Beumer (Buy-mer) has joined IKE and will coordinate much of the conference.
Legislative Progress: On Jan 16, the House Environment Committee passed the Task Force's lead legislation. Now it is on to the full House and then the Senate. Thanks to Reps Avery, Atterholt, Porter and Weinzapfel for their leadership and IDEM, ISDH and Dr. Caine of MCHD for their supporting testimony. You can track progress on the bill check out the Indiana General Assembly's website.
A 2002 Conference on Nov 6 & 7? Yes, we have finalized the dates and are close to securing a location. Hopefully, we can secure enough sponsorships to keep costs down and offer many scholarships to increase our diversity. The conference will be two full days with only three breakout sessions. We hope to bring in more healthcare providers, property managers, and minority health coalitions.
What about the 2001 Conference? More than 200 people attended. Thanks to our sponsors (IHFA, MCHD, FSSA, IDEM, EMI, EPA Region 5, Memorial Hospital and HealthVisions), 36 people attended on a scholarship. For highlights including the heated discussions of lead industry liability.
Who won the Lead-Safe Indiana Awards? Howard County Health Department, Nancy Cobb, Dave McCormick, Senator Beverly Gard, Memorial Hospital of South Bend, HealthVisions Midwest, and Kevin O'Malley and Porter Paints. Plan to nominate someone for 2002. For more information on the winners.
Need Money? There are some grant opportunities coming up. If you don't ask, you can't get a yes. Let me know if you need facts and figures (or just a proofreader) to help the case. And don't forget your local foundation.
EPA Environmental Justice - Feb 22 deadline
Community Toolbox - March 15 - you must have parents involved!
HUD Lead Hazard Control - mid-May - surely we can get one this year especially if we coordinate our efforts.
Publications:
Where are lead hazards in Indiana? Check out the Report from IDEM's 2000 Families Project. The near final report was distributed at the conference and will be on the web in early February 2002.
Do it yourself manual in Spanish from Community Resources
EPA Remodeling and Renovation Model Training Course is on the web.
Enforcing Disclosure! EPA and HUD have been active lately enforcing the property transfer disclosure rules. Rumor has it that some cases are under consideration in Indiana. Violators generally agree to conduct a risk assessment on all property and fix identified hazards (but not abatement). Here is a run down of recent actions:
A Denver firm managing 130,000 units in 42 states, including 10,273 units in Indiana, voluntarily reported itself. On Jan 16, it agreed to pay $130,000, test all properties and fix identified hazards. For press release on the action. For a list of properties in Indiana.
Chicago's Hyde Park Realty on Dec. 14 - 1000 units, $20,000 fine, training for tenants
Several large Chicago landlords on Nov 15 - 10,650 units, inspect all property, fix hazards, and pay $65,000. Plus one landlord "donated" $177,000 to local programs for lead-hazard control, blood-lead testing, and education.
A New Hampshire man plead guilty on Dec. 19. 2001 to failing to make proper disclosure to tenants and then lied about the failure. He will get 15 months in jail and a fine of up to $40,000. His company could be fined $3,200,000. A child died from lead poisoning in the case.
If you know of a violation, contact Scott Cooper of EPA Region 5 right away. You can reach him at (312) 886-1332, FAX (312) 353-4788, e-mail him at cooper.scott@epa.gov.
Liability:
Lead-Paint Industry: You heard the pros and cons at the conference. With billions of dollars at risk, the battle is heating up. Several cities have filed cases against the lead paint industry. No court decisions though.
Landlords: Maryland and New York joined Wisconsin (pdf) with victories for tenants. Basically the courts are saying that ignorance is no longer bliss - landlords are on notice of the hazard.
HUD Rule Finally Effective - Almost: The transition extensions ended on January 10, 2002 for those communities claiming inadequate capacity to comply. However, HUD did grant an extension to March 31 for certain owners of pre-1960 housing receiving more than $5000 in Sec. 8 project-based assistance to complete the required risk assessments.
Editorial: For years, we have attempted to balance concerns for lead poisoning and the need to keep affordable housing. We didn't confront the issue head-on and ended up fostering ignorance. The HUD rule tipped the balance by embracing lead-safe housing. But we still have the challenge of affordable housing. Rather than let fear of the rule dry up the affordable housing we need to remove the incentive to avoid it. Disclosure rules for sellers and contractors must be enforced and lead-safe work practices must become a way of life for all.
Congratulations, you made it to the end! Hopefully, this newsletter was helpful. For the many unanswered questions it raised, please email me at mccabe@ikecoalition.org.
If you need more information on national events, check out the Alliance Alert Newsletter at www.afhh.org and click on newsletter.