Study finds $50 million diverted from NJ efforts to alleviate lead poisoning
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Advocates are urging New Jersey to stop diverting money from a lead poisoning health fund. In the last decade, more than $50 million meant for the fund has gone instead to the state’s general fund to help pay other expenses. The Asbury Park Press reported the diversions were approved by Democratic and Republican governors and the Legislature. It also found the state failed to implement a 2008 rental housing inspection law aimed at reducing lead poisoning. “This is a program that was used to be able to allow landlords to be able to get low-cost loans, to be able to abate their homes, to be able to move children to lead safe housing,” said Arnold Cohen of the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey. “So these are dollars that are needed.” Lead, a toxic metal found everywhere in the environment, can cause brain damage and learning and behavioral problems. It has been deemed the state’s top environmental health threat for children. State officials say the number of children with lead poisoning has declined dramatically over 20 years, while the number of kids tested for it has increased significantly. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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