NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — Homeowners, renters, and landlords in Niagara County now have access to new federal money to get rid of lead paint.
Several of our federal lawmakers secured $3.3 million for residents with older homes, built before 1940, to get rid of old paint containing lead.
In a statement, officials said this is important money for Niagara County because deterioration in its least-served communities where the majority of residents are minorities.
The Director of Environmental Health Protection with the state health department ... who *stressed the importance of dealing with chipping, peeling paint near windows and doors - especially if you have young kids at home.
"Think about every time you open and close your windows you create minute amount of dust you might not even see. Windowsills are a great place for small children to be. They put their toys in the windowsills, I've seen them put their food in the windowsills. And of course, your one and two year olds have their hands are in their mouths, their toys are in their mouth. So, children can get lead based paint even when it doesn't look dirty. But if you've got visible chips then you've got even an higher risk,"> Christine Westerman said.
Westerman said the state is in the process of building a lead-based paint registry where landlord of multi-family dwellings would have to test, report and repair any lead paint issues.
