HUD AWARDS $1.5 MILLION TO CITY OF PORTLAND TO PROTECT CHILDREN FROM DANGEROUS LEAD AND OTHER HOME HEALTH AND SAFETY HAZARDS
Funding part of $143 million awarded nationwide

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced $1.5 million in funding to the City of Portland to help protect children and families from dangerous lead-based paint and other home health and safety hazards. The City will partner with Cumberland County to reduce or eliminate lead exposure in more than 80 households in Portland. Lead is a known toxin that can impair children's development and may even cause death at high levels.

"We are making our homes safer and healthier places in which to raise our children," said HUD regional director
Taylor Caswell. "While we've made great progress in reducing lead poisoning, we will continue working with communities such as Portland until this preventable disease is banished for good."

This competitive grant, which is being awarded under HUD's Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control program, is part of $143 million being awarded nationwide. This local award will be complemented by $453,964 in
local matching/leveraged funds.

HUD's Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control promotes local efforts to eliminate dangerous lead and other hazards from lower income homes; stimulates private sector investment in lead hazard control; educates the public about the dangers of lead-based paint; and supports scientific research into innovative methods to identify and eliminate health hazards in housing.

This is the fourth Lead Hazard Control grant the City of Portland has received from HUD. With $4.2 million in
previous funding, more than 200 households have been remediated.

The announcement took place at the home of Scott and Margueret Spencer. To ensure their home was safe for
their two young sons, they received a grant from the City's Lead Safe Housing program to remediate lead hazards that were found in the windows, closets and in the exterior paint.

Even though lead-based paint was banned for use in the home in 1978, HUD estimates approximately 24 million
homes nationwide still have significant lead-based paint hazards today. Lead-contaminated dust is the primary
cause of lead exposure and can lead to a variety of health problems in young children including reduced IQ, learning disabilities, developmental delays, reduced height, and impaired hearing. At higher levels, lead can damage a child's kidneys and central nervous system and cause anemia, coma, convulsions and even death.

HUD and two of its federal agency partners, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, operate the National Lead Information Clearinghouse, where parents, property owners, and other members of the public can get information about lead hazards and their prevention. The Clearinghouse has a
toll free number, 800-424-LEAD, and a web site (www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/nlic.htm), both of which provide
information in English and Spanish.

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