BUFFALO, N.Y. — The City of Buffalo is ranked among the top ten in the country for elevated blood lead levels in children, but it's making progress. On Tuesday the city and county leaders provided an update on its community engagement campaign.
In the last year Buffalo has replaced water lines containing lead in more than 100 homes, while also conducting more inspections for lead, and enhancing its public outreach.
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown credits their progress to a new partnership with the city and Erie County to share health data on lead citations, to help focus resources in the right areas.
"This will remove the guesswork from our enforcement practices and ensure earlier intervention in making a home lead safe," Brown said. "And I want to say that again: this is the first time in history that the city and county have shared this information."
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz also announced $5.6 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Health to address lead issues countywide.