ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, July 27, 1996 TAG: 9607300034
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: PETERSBURG
SOURCE: Associated Press
MOST HOMES here have lead paint, which makes the removal process cumbersome.
The Smith children sleep too much. Sometimes they're hyperactive. They have too many stomachaches.
Jamarian, Senacia, Jasmine and Jacoby Smith range in age from 1 to 6, and all of them suffer from lead poisoning. Every day, they inhale more dust from the lead-based paint that coats their 75-year-old house.
``It hurts to know your kids have to stay here with it, and you don't have the money to do anything about it,'' said Alice Smith, the children's grandmother. She and the children's mother, Sonya Smith, can't afford a contractor to remove the old paint that coats the interior woodwork.
Two years ago, the federal government gave Virginia $5.4 million for a program to remove lead-based paint from old houses such as the Smiths', and the state promised to add $2.5 million of its own. But none of that money has been disbursed, and the foot-dragging may prompt the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to take back its $5.4 million.
Children under 6 are hurt most by lead poisoning. They are more likely to chew on chips of old paint that peel off of their walls, and the damage to their delicate, developing nervous systems is more profound.
In children, high lead levels can stunt growth and cause hearing loss and brain damage, said Brucie Gouldthorpe, a Petersburg Health Department nurse whose sole responsibility is lead poisoning.
The two adults in the Smith home do not have lead problems.
Ridding a house of lead paint is hard work. Alice Smith, 54, labored for three months to scrape it off the doors and windows in her living room.
Volunteers removed most of the paint from the den, where Sonya sleeps with three of her children to reduce their exposure to lead.
``Lead paint is everywhere,'' said Alice, who was unaware of the problem when she bought the house nine years ago. ``Every time I see paint chipped away I clean it off.''
The children periodically take medicine to clear the lead from their systems. But as long as they remain in the house and breathe the dust, their blood lead levels will remain high.
The idea is to take the children out of the home for the month they are on the medication - easier said than done when you have no other place to go.
The Smiths could move to another house, but more than likely they would find lead there, too. Lead-based paint is in most Petersburg homes, many of which were built long before lead paint was banned for residential use in 1978.
With the state program still in limbo, the city is preparing to implement its own abatement effort using a $2 million grant it got on its own from HUD, said David Canada, director of planning.
Richmond and Norfolk received HUD abatement grants of $3.2 million and $1.6 million, respectively, in the spring of 1995. Richmond already has started inspecting and treating homes. Norfolk is developing a management plan, said Susan Judd, a HUD program specialist overseeing grants to Virginia.
The Smiths' home is among 50 included in the Petersburg abatement program, but that would not bar them from participating in the state's $5.4 million HUD grant, federal officials said.
Bob Wynn, project manager for the Petersburg abatement effort, said he hopes to have workers in the homes within two or three months. The lead paint either will be removed or covered with special sealants, Wynn said.
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. 1. Jasmine Smith, 4, is one of four children livingby CNBwith her grandmother, Alice Smith, who says she doesn't have the
money to properly remove the lead paint from the home. 2.
One-year-old Jacoby Smith, the youngest of four kids living at the
lead-painted home, naps on a daybed in the den.