💦 Gov. Phil Murphy announces a new lead exposure mapping tool for all NJ residents

💦 He also says $38 million in grants are being awarded for lead paint remediation

💦 More NJ residents are exposed to lead dangers from paint than pipes


We’ve heard a lot in recent months about replacing lead pipes that could be polluting drinking water supplies in older communities across New Jersey.

Now comes word the Murphy administration is ramping up efforts to protect Garden State children and adults from the dangers of lead paint in older buildings.

A new lead danger mapping tool

The administration launched a Potential Lead Exposure Mapping tool, which provides new publicly available data that indicate potential sources of lead exposure.

The online tool, which may be used by local health officers, community groups, and other members of the public to help identify the potential sources of lead exposure can be accessed here.

Murphy announced the awarding of more than $38 million in funding to 20 nonprofits and local governments across New Jersey through the Lead Remediation and Abatement Grant program.

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Remediation will protect hundreds of thousands

Murphy said the Lead Remediation and Abatement Grant program will “protect hundreds of thousands of residents from the danger of home-based lead, most critically the danger of lead paint.”

Murphy said the nonprofit organizations and local governments receiving the grant money were all selected “based on the need of the areas they serve with special consideration given to the number of children under the age of 6 who have been found to have elevated lead levels in their blood.”

Not a small or easy problem to fix

He said in the areas served by the grant recipients there are more than 1.8 million homes built prior to 1978’s lead paint ban.

“Obviously not all of them still have a lead paint exposure problem, but the odds are many still do," he said.

“Much has been said about lead exposure through old and tainted water lines, and that’s for good reason, but let us be very clear: more residents face exposure from decades-old lead paint.”

Man Scrapping Paint from House
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The grant funds will be used to identify and remediate lead-based paint hazards through encapsulation, replacement, or abatement.

This work will follow the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Renovation, Repair and Painting rule from 2010 that requires firms performing renovation, repair, and painting projects that disturb lead-based paint in homes, childcare facilities, and preschools built before 1978 be certified by EPA use certified renovators who are trained by EPA-approved training providers to do the work, and follow lead-safe work practices.

The following awards were announced:

AgencySFY20 Total # of Children with Elevated Blood Lead Levels (within Grantee's Service Areas)Number of Pre-1978 Residential Properties (within Grantee's Service Areas)Award Amount Recommended Service Area(s)
Passaic County35564,597$1,500,000 Passaic County
Saint Joseph's Carpenter Society153190,027$1,500,000 Burlington County and Camden County

 

Greater Bergen Community Action Inc.224192,560$1,341,865Bergen County and City of Paterson
La Casa de Don Pedro764130,398$1,600,000Essex County
Native American Advancement Corp.7450,847$1,122,336Atlantic County and Cape May County
PROCEED361157,135$3,000,000Somerset County and Union County
Isles, Inc.19571,261$2,000,000Mercer County
Morris County Organization for Hispanic Affairs5592,195$500,000Morris County
Paterson City953,813$1,600,000City of Paterson
Community Affairs and Resource Center379276,927$3,100,000Atlantic County, Middlesex County, Monmouth County
United Community Corporation764130,398$1,200,000Essex County
NORWESCAP1967,143$200,000Hunterdon County, Sussex County, Warren County
Puertorriquenos Asociados for Community Organization, Inc.32461,458$1,000,000 Hudson County
City Of Plainfield638,501$1,600,000 City of Plainfield
Passaic City425,683$480,189 City of Passaic
Light Up Your World153190,027$4,000,000 Burlington County and Camden County
Newark City14123,006$1,600,000 City of Newark
Puerto Rican Action Committee of Southern New Jersey, Inc.14014,548$3,331,017Cape May County, Cumberland County, Salem County
Green & Healthy Homes Initiative Inc.7819,760$1,600,000 City of Trenton
Gateway Community Action Partnership15858,606$6,000,000 Cumberland County, Gloucester County, Salem County

David Matthau is a reporter for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at

david.matthau@townsquaremedia.com

Click here to contact an editor about feedback or a correction for this story.

 

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