BUFFALO, N.Y. — In January, the City of Buffalo launched its long-awaited pilot program to combat lead poisoning.
The pilot program is small — much smaller than the problem in Buffalo, which has one of the highest rates of children afflicted with lead poisoning in the nation.
And, as it stands now, the program lacks funding mechanisms to make it bigger.
Furthermore, a key element is still missing: a new local law that will allow city inspectors access to the interiors of the city’s abundant rental singles and doubles in poor neighborhoods. Those dwellings comprise 80 percent of the city’s highest-risk properties.