BUFFALO, N.Y. — Citizen Science Community Resources (CSCR), in collaboration with Open Buffalo and, Massachusetts Avenue Project (MAP) announced and discussed the results of residential soil testing on Tuesday. The community meeting was held at the Delevan Grider Community Center in Buffalo.
The purpose of the meeting was to inform residents and help them understand the findings of the tests.
Over the summer, the community collaborative tested 60 yards of residential soil soil in the Delavan Grider neighborhood to test for the presence of dangerous chemicals.
Almost all samples show that lead, a dangerous toxin that affects the cardiovascular, muscular-skeletal, reproductive, and nervous systems, is elevated above the soil cleanup objective.
"This is an unacceptable level in a residential community", said Greg Glover from Open Buffalo in a statement.
“We're finding that a lot of the causes of these elevated levels might be associated with housing stock, so Buffalo has a super old housing stock, like 80-percent of the homes were built before the 1950's, which is really the cut-off for lead-based paint so it could be coming from the housing stock, it could be coming from old industrial buildings,”
The collaborative said it will continue efforts to test more yards throughout the city in the spring. The collaborative is also working with residents to give them resources to advocate for themselves and their communities.
"We are educating families on the effects of lead exposure and supporting them in demanding justice," said Jackie James of CSCR in a statement.