Indiana Lead-Safe & Healthy Homes Newsletter

May 2005 Edition

Version in pdf

Improving Kids’ Environment (IKE) and the Indiana Lead-Safe Task Force publish this newsletter every two or three months at no charge for anyone interested in issues and events involving lead poisoning prevention and healthy homes in Indiana.   Distribution is by email or fax – preferably by e-mail.   Contact the editor, Tom Neltner, at mccabe@ikecoalition.org or 317-442-3973 if you want to contribute articles, edit the draft newsletter, contribute an article, or want to get on or off the distribution list.  All editions are available on IKE’s web page at http://www.ikecoalition.org/publications.htm. 

Lead-Safe Indiana Task Force – Tuesday, June 14

Please join us for the Lead-Safe Indiana Task Force meeting on Tuesday, June 14 from 10:00 to 2:00 at the Environmental Management Institute on Indy’s Westside. – 5610 Crawfordsville Road, Suite 15.  The meetings are open to all.  It will be a great chance to network, impact strategies to implement SB-538, and plan the conference.

Conference Planning Committee – Thursday, May 19

We need your help and guidance to ensure that the 2005 Indiana Lead-Safe and Healthy Homes Conference on November 8 & 9 is a success.  Please join us for a conference planning committee on Thursday, May 9 from 1:30 to 3:00 at EMI on Indy’s Westside. 

Indiana Attorney General Carter Steps Up to Protect Kids!

Indiana’s state and local health departments have struggled for years with their inability to get property owners to cleanup identified lead hazards where children have been or might be lead poisoned.  When they encounter a landlord unwilling to voluntarily cleanup the hazards, they feel powerless to protect the children from permanent brain damage due to lead.  Many have questioned the point of Indiana’s lead program if the children most in need of protection are left unprotected simply because the landlord refuses to deal with the problem. 

Only Marion County Health Department has been able to routinely order clean-ups of deteriorated paint.  Last Fall, Vigo County Health Department took the unprecedented step of declaring a house that had poisoned three children uninhabitable. 

In Indiana, IDEM has the authority – actually the mandate – to act if the lead hazards pose an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health.  IDEM concedes that lead hazards in the presence of children meets this standard but claims that it needs $1.6 million to fulfill the mandate.  IDEM had a provision in SEA-538 that would have forced ISDH to give information to IDEM stripped from the bill to avoid the fiscal impact.

Fortunately, Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter stepped up and agreed to do what is needed to protect children from lead poisoning.  On April 29, 2005, ISDH distributed an offer to local health departments (LHD) from the Attorney General Carter to help then protect children.  Click here for a copy of the letter.

The Attorney General (AG) asked LHDs to refer cases to his office if:

1.        a lead risk assessment indicates hazards are present;

2.       a child six years or younger either lives at the residence or was poisoned in the past;

3.       the LHD gave the property owner a written request to remediate the hazards within a reasonable period of time;

4.       the property owner has not taken reasonable steps to remedy known lead hazards;

5.       the LHD is willing to authorize the AG to take action against the property owner on behalf of the LHD; and

6.       the LHD sends Steve Griffin in the AG’s Office a letter documenting the items above.

When the AG gets the request, his office will begin an independent investigation to verify the facts.  If a lawsuit is needed, the AG will pursue remediation of the property as well as recovery of attorney fees, litigation costs, and appropriate costs incurred by the LHD.  Since the AG cannot exercise IDEM’s authority to require cleanup, he will use his authority to protect Hoosiers as well as the federal citizen suit authority under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) to compel cleanup when solid waste poses an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health. 

Attorney General Carter recognizes LHDs will use his offer as leverage to force voluntary cleanups by property owners.  Most property owners, even previously recalcitrant ones, would prefer to stay out of the AG’s spotlight.  

IKE applauds Attorney General Carter’s decision to work with local health departments and to provide the backstop for action to protect children from lead poisoning!   Special thanks to Tim Junk in the Attorney General’s office for making it happen.

SEA-538 Signed By Governor

Senate Enrolled Act 538 was signed by Governor Mitch Daniels on May 4, 2005.   Click here for a copy of the bill.  When it goes into effect on July 1, the law will:

·         Require Indiana Medicaid to:

o        Develop measures to evaluate the performance of Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs) in screening children less than six years old for lead poisoning;

o        Maintain the results of the performance measures in written form; and

o        Provide the Medicaid MCOs with performance incentives.

·         Remove the lead poisoning reporting rules from the confidential protections provided to communicable diseases;

·         Require ISDH to adopt rules for the case management of a child with lead poisoning;

·         Require ISDH to establish reporting, monitoring and preventive procedures to protect from lead poisoning;

·         Require electronic reporting for labs that conducted more than 50 blood lead tests in the previous calendar year;

·         Extended the mandate for ISDH and local health departments to share addresses of lead poisoned children with HUD.

·         Limited the information sharing of addresses of lead poisoned children to any agency to the extent needed to enable the other agency to perform its duties.   

·         Require ISDH, in cooperation with other agencies, to submit to the Indiana General Assembly by March 15 of each year a report on ten critical lead poisoning prevention performance measures for the previous calendar year.

Thanks to Senator Beverly Gard for sponsoring the bill and shepherding it through the process.  Also thanks to Senators Simpson, Sipes, Breaux, Skinner and Lawson, Representatives Becker, Brown and Crawford, ISDH Legislative Liaison Michelle Milliken, Brandi Ireland, John Casey, Amy Hesting, Nicole Gaunt, Mark Kleinbauer, and Dave McCormick for their support, sponsorship, and testimony in the effort.

South Bend Tribune Story on Lead

The South Bend Tribune published a high profile expose’ on the problems of lead poisoning in South Bend in its Sunday, April 24 edition.  The story focuses on the community’s enhanced efforts to deal with the problem and its plans to obtain a HUD grant to fund lead hazard control.  Click here to view the article.

Journalistic Leadership

Congratulations to two journalists who received awards from the Indy Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists for their coverage of lead poisoning prevention issues.  See http://indyprospj.iupui.edu/ for details on the awards. 

• WISH-TV’s Karen Hensel, Loni Smith McKown and Kevin Conners won first place for best television investigative report for the Indianapolis market for its “The Poison Within” series in November 2005.  The judges said: "Great investigation into an important issue; good use of victims mixed in with experts; easy to follow; compelling."  Click here for the story.

• Pete Ciancone of the Terre Haute Tribune Star won first place for best coverage of the environment by a publication of circulation less than 40,000 for his “Dangerously Leading the Way" stories in June 2005.  The judges said: "Excellent reporting uncovering and explaining why Vigo County leads the state in percentage of children with toxic levels of lead. Serves the public with clear and concise reporting and informational sidebars on symptoms and how to find help.  Great work!"

CDC Enforces Policy to Avoid Overlap with Medicaid

On April 8, CDC informed ISDH that, effective July 1, 2005, it would not allow ISDH or their subgrantees to use CDC funds to provide case management and environmental investigation services to Medicaid eligible children.   Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) requires that states cover follow up services for conditions that are discovered during EPSDT screening; this includes case management for lead poisoned Medicaid eligible children.  CMS also requires the state Medicaid agency to cover an environmental investigation of a lead poisoned child’s primary residence.   

CDC’s Cooperative Agreement with Indiana requires it to bill Medicaid for these covered services and not to use CDC fund to supplant Medicaid costs. 

Thanks to Paula Staley and Dr. Mary Jean Brown for their work at CDC!

AG and HUD Grants – Commitment to Strengthen Applications

More than five Indiana communities are planning to submit grant applications to HUD for lead hazard reduction.   Thanks to ISDH’s leadership, these communities started planning early and are making great strides.  The deadlines are on June 7 for Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control, June 9 for Operation Lead Elimination Action Program (LEAP) and June 14 for Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration. 

Attorney General Carter’s offer to help local health departments provides a critical element in local efforts to secure HUD funding.  The AG has offered to provide a letter of commitment to applicants formalizing his offer described earlier in this newsletter.  The offer and the letter should make it easier for communities to get landlords to commit the funds needed to leverage action – especially with the possibility that if they wait for the AG to act on a lead poisoned child, they may not be able to receive the HUD funds. 

Thanks to Tim Junk, Attorney General Carter and ISDH for their work!

City of Indianapolis Must Wait One Year for HUD Grant Renewal

In 2003, the City of Indianapolis received a $1.7 million grant from HUD for Lead Hazard Control.  That grant concludes on January 15, 2006.  The City has repeatedly asked HUD to modify the agreement so it ends before January 1, 2006.  But HUD has not responded to the request.  Other grantees are in a similar situation.

Without the modification, the City will not be eligible to apply for a renewal grant this year.  It must wait until the 2006 round.  As a result, its successful program must shutdown for eleven months.  While the downtime will disrupt the program, it has the advantage of allowing HUD to consider the tremendous progress it has made in the past year in meeting grant commitments.  This effort was the result of a change to its original effort.  The City, in cooperation with Marion County Health Department, retooled the approach by engaging the weatherization program at Community Action of Greater Indianapolis to do the lead hazard controls and made apartment buildings, especially those subject to MCHD repair orders, a top priority. 

Kudos to David Evans of MCHD, Karla Johnson and Dave McCormick of MCHD, and Jim Naremor of the City of Indianapolis. 

IKE Sets Up Webpage Featuring Rental Housing Quality in Indianapolis

Go to www.ikecoalition.org/Indy_Lead/index.htm for the latest word on rental housing quality in Indianapolis.  It provides:

• Fact sheet providing facts, figures, tables and charts of housing code compliance issues;

• GIS maps of housing code enforcement between 2000 and 2004.

• Proposed rental housing quality ordinance to proactively ensure compliance with the housing code instead of reacting to problems;

• Photos, risk assessments, repair orders, and follow-up orders for more than 30 apartment buildings plus links to fund the latest inspection and permitting information on-line; and

• Needs assessment for the Kennedy-King Park Neighborhood; and

• Links to articles in past newsletters on the issue. 

Systematic Code Enforcement on Indy Apartment Buildings
Last summer, Marion County Health Department responded to IKE’s complaints and conducted lead risk assessments on all 25 apartment buildings on Indy’s Meridian Street between 30 ^th and 38 ^th Streets.  MCHD found lead hazards and issued repair orders on 24 of the 25 buildings.  Only one building had no lead hazards. 

The repair orders resulted in a flurry of additional complaints by others - probably by landlords - on other buildings.  MCHD investigated and issued additional repair orders.  While the inspections focused on the common areas and at least one rental unit, the impact should have a broader impact on all units in the building.  Most landlords responded by improving maintenance programs.  In addition, the risk assessments, repair orders and subsequent testing of the common areas must be disclosed to all current tenants at lease renewal and all future tenants at lease signing.   The buildings subject to repair orders had a total of more than 1500 rental units.     

The fact that virtually all apartment buildings inspected had lead hazards led MCHD to conclude that systematic code enforcement for all apartment buildings with more than four units built before 1960 is needed.  MCHD has begun those inspections with the 600 buildings in Center Township.  It will take several years to complete the effort. 

IKE applauds MCHD’s work, especially the efforts of Dave McCormick, Karla Johnson, and Melissa Smith.

Lead Sampling for Residents Near Indy Superfund Site

While deteriorated lead-based paint is the main source of childhood lead poisoning, there are other sources.  EPA hosted a public meeting on May 5 to talk to residents around the former American Lead secondary lead smelter about providing EPA’s contractors with access to the site to sample for lead contamination.  The smelter was at 1600 E. 21^st St in the Martindale-Brightwood Neighborhood.  About five residents attended the meeting.

EPA held a similar meeting in Evansville last Fall to discuss contamination.

IKE is pleased to see the sampling and hopes EPA will act quickly to remedy any lead hazards found!  Go to http://www.epa.gov/region5/news/news05/05054.htm for more information.

Affordable Comfort Conference in Indianapolis on May 16 to 21, 2005

Indianapolis is privileged to host the national Affordable Comfort Conference on May 16 to 21, 2005.  It is an outstanding opportunity to learn how to make housing affordable, comfortable, safe and healthy. 

Registrants will be able to chose from 57 short courses and 96 sessions categorized in 18 tracks.  The information offered will range from Home Performance Business to Heating & Cooling to Weatherization, covering a broad spectrum of lessons from industry leaders in their field of expertise.

The official conference kick-off, being hosted by Indiana Community Action Association (INCAA), as well as the Indiana utility companies, will be held at the NCAA Hall of Champions.  Offering a picnic and ice cream social, this will be one of the chances to network while enjoying festivities.

Go to www.affordablecomfort.org for more information and to register.  For specific information on health and housing issues, click here.

Mark Your Calendars

§         Lead-Safe Indiana Task Force Meeting in Indy.  All are welcome to attend these meetings to discuss lead poisoning and healthy homes issues across Indiana.  It is a great networking and planning opportunity.  Contact Tom Neltner at mccabe@ikecoalition.org or at 317-442-3973 for details.  All meetings will be at the Environmental Management Institute, 5610 Crawfordsville Road, Suite 15.  We will try to coordinate the meetings with Indiana EPAC’s Housing Subcommittee meetings.

o        Tuesday, June 14 – 10:00 to 2:00

o        Tuesday, September 13 – 10:00 to 2:00

o        Tuesday, December 6 – 10:00 to 2:00

§         Indiana Lead Elimination Plan Advisory Committee in Indy.  The committee is charged with advising ISDH on the state’s implementation of the state lead elimination plan.  The meetings are held at HUD’s offices at 151 N. Delaware St., Suite 1200 and are open to the public.

o        Thursday, July 14 – 10:00 to 12:00  

o        Thursday, October 13 – 10:00 to 12:00

§         Training

o        Free EPA & HUD-Approved Lead Safe Work Practices Course.  Contact Masimax at 866-232-5419 or on-line at www.leadsafetraining.org.

§         Chicago on July 7.

o        Accredited Lead Training at the Environmental Management Institute in Indy.  Contact EMI at 800-488-8842 or www.envtlmgmt.org.

§         Lead Rules Awareness Course – May 16

§         Lead Inspector / Risk Assessor Initial – June 6 to 10

§         Lead Abatement Supervisor Initial – May 23 to 26

§         Lead Abatement Worker Initial – July 25 to 26

o        Train the Trainer – HUD-Approved Lead-Safe Work Practices by the Environmental Management Institute on May 17 in Indy at the Affordable Comfort Conference

§         Conferences

o        National Affordable Comfort in Indianapolis on May 16 to 21, 2005.  See www.affordablecomfort.org.

o        Indiana Lead-Safe and Healthy Homes Conference in Indianapolis on November 8 and 9, 2005

Thanks for improving kids' environment!  If you have any questions or comments about this newsletter, IKE, or the Indiana Lead-Safe Task Force, contact Tom Neltner at mccabe@ikecoalition.org, 317-442-3973 or 5244 Carrollton Avenue, Indianapolis, IN  46202-3181.  If you need more information on national events, check out the Alliance Alert Newsletter at www.afhh.org and click on newsletter.

IKE publishes a newsletter on a regular basis that describes IKE’s efforts beyond healthy homes and lead hazard control.  Contact Tom Neltner at mccabe@ikecoalition.org if you want to subscribe to either of those newsletters.