Federal Govt giving $100 Million to remove lead paint and mold

[Guest guest]

Joe Biden announces $100M for lead-paint removal

By JACOB ADELMAN

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nearly $100 million in federal stimulus money

will go toward a program to remove lead-based paint and other health

and safety hazards from low-income homes, Vice President Joe Biden

announced Friday.

Biden announced the plan in the courtyard of an

affordable-housing development operated by a community group that is

getting $875,000 of that money to help identify and remove toxic paint

and other health hazards from 225 Los Angeles homes.

Biden said the program will immediately employ workers to do the lead-abatement

work.

He

said it will also save the country millions in future health care costs

that otherwise would be spent treating people suffering from

neurological damage, slowed growth and other ailments connected to

growing up in contact with lead-based paint.

" This is a real bang

for the buck here, " he said. " You have people from this community

filling good jobs, helping other families, helping children to stay

healthy. "

South Los Angeles' Esperanza Community Housing Corp.

was among 53 local programs in 20 states and Washington, D.C., getting

grants through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to

remove lead-based paint and other hazards such as mold. The American

Recovery and Reinvestment Act includes $13.61 billion for projects

administered by HUD.

Biden used much of the press conference to

stress the Obama administration's commitment to low-income communities,

which are most affected by lead-based paint because they include older

homes where the toxic paint was used.

" It's unacceptable that

some 40 percent of homes in this country still contain lead-based

paints, the majority of which are in low-income areas where homes have

not been renovated in decades, " he said. " If we are truly going to

revitalize our communities and help families that are most vulnerable,

we need to invest that money now. "

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