ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, July 27, 1996 TAG: 9607300030
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
A state agency has allowed nearly $8 million earmarked for removing lead paint - and the health threat it poses to thousands of children in low-income homes - to languish largely unused for 2 1/2 years.
The federal government says it may withdraw $5.4 million it contributed to the program because of the state Department of Housing and Community Development's slow pace.
Internal memos obtained by The Associated Press show that agency officials were warned about the perception that the state was not really committed to the program.
An estimated 40,000 Virginia children younger than 6 suffer from lead poisoning, the state Health Department said in a Feb. 28 report to Gov. George Allen and the General Assembly.
Young children are hurt most because lead they ingest from eating paint chips or inhaling lead dust targets their delicate neurological systems.
Low levels of lead in blood affect developing brain cells and are associated with lower IQ, reading disabilities, hyperactivity and reduced hand-eye coordination. Massive lead levels can stunt growth or damage the brain.
The Health Department estimated lead-based paint is in 1.8 million Virginia homes built before 1978, when lead paint was banned for residential use.
Virginia was among 19 states or localities awarded lead abatement grants in December 1993 by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Fifteen have implemented programs and one, Michigan, will put its program into effect shortly, said Ellis Goldman, director of HUD's lead-paint abatement office.
``If you look at the track record, that would speak for itself,'' HUD spokeswoman Dolline Pryer said of Virginia's lead-paint abatement efforts.
Two states - North Carolina and Pennsylvania - lag behind Virginia in getting their programs running, Goldman said.
So far, $263,707 has been spent on planning, $208,028 from the federal grant and the rest from state matching funds totaling $2.5 million, said Bob Richards, deputy director of the DHCD's housing division.
``We haven't done real abatement,'' Richards said. ``There's nothing spent in abatement.''
Asked when abatement will begin, Richards said, ``That I don't know.''
On June 24, Richards wrote a memo addressed to ``Everyone,'' in which he said teams have been set up ``to redesign and implement this very important program.''
Susan Judd, a HUD program specialist who oversees the state grant, said she has worked closely with DHCD. ``In the last month, we have engaged in a much more urgent dialogue because we're trying to work things out,'' she said.
Richards said DHCD has identified six cities in the state that had the highest number of cases of children with lead poisoning in 1995, using data from the state Health Department. Roanoke is among those six, he said. The high concentrations are linked to the amount of old housing, some of it poorly maintained.
But Richards said his department hasn't been able to identify those children with lead poisoning, find out where they live or how to contact their parents or guardians about the availability of funding for lead abatement, he said. Medical authorities won't release the children's names because doing so would breach confidentiality.
"They can't release information. We can't release the grant," Richards said.
This fall, the department plans to launch a pilot program in the six cities to help identify children with lead poisoning and their parents or guardians. The six include Richmond (155 cases), Norfolk (80), Petersburg (60), Roanoke (55), Portsmouth (43) and Lynchburg (26).
"We're working on a system where we design a postcard or letter and ask doctors to give them to parents," Richards said. "Hopefully, the parents will fill them out, put their names and phone numbers. We will contact them and let them know we have this money to engage in a lead abatement procedure."
Once the department can identify families, one house in each of the six areas will be selected for a pilot project to remove or encapsulate lead-based paint, Richards said.
"We'll get contractors up and running and get cost estimates, see if the system works," he said.
Goldman said HUD is growing impatient with Virginia. ``Many, many applicants are looking at places that haven't spent their money and said, `Why not give it to us?''' he said. ``We will have to revisit [states or localities] that haven't expended these funds. Perhaps they're better used elsewhere.''
A DHCD internal memorandum that building code supervisor Carolyn R. Williams wrote Jan. 18, 1995 - more than a year after the state received the grant - acknowledged there are ``prevalent perceptions that we lack enthusiasm and dedicated commitment to completing this project.''
``If we lack proper tools, motivation, or time-opportunity, perhaps we should consider returning these funds to the Feds for them to appropriate elsewhere,'' she wrote to her boss, Ed Altizer.
Williams confirmed that she wrote the memo, but referred questions about it to top agency officials.
John Colligan, principal deputy director of DHCD, said lead abatement is a priority at the agency. ``We're getting this up to speed,'' he said. ``We're in the process of putting together amendments to the grant to make it more workable.''
There have been four DHCD managers of the project since the agency received the grant.
There has been ``some problem in key staff turnover,'' HUD's Goldman said.
In the state's Sept. 14, 1993, grant application, then-housing director Neal J. Barber wrote HUD that Virginia had designed a sound approach to handle lead paint problems.
The $2.5 million in matching funds showed that the DHCD was ``fully committed'' to the program, according to Barber's letter.
Barber left the agency in August 1994 when Allen installed his own appointee, David L. Caprara, who headed the department until January of this year.
Virginia's General Assembly had to create a program to certify contractors for removing lead paint. The legislature passed such a bill in 1994 and amended it a year later to make its requirements no more stringent than federal guidelines. The legislative action allowed Virginia to meet the HUD deadline of Oct. 1, 1995, to avoid forfeiting the grant.
The Virginia Board for Licensing and Lead Enforcement has issued about 1,000 licenses to lead contractors since last October, said David E. Dick, assistant director of the state Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation.
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