City Of Kansas City: City Partners With K-State To Win $700,000 Grant To Help Reduce Ground Lead Exposure

Press release from the City of Kansas City:

11/05/2021 9:25 AM

NEWS RELEASE The City of Kansas City has partnered with Kansas State University, Children’s Mercy Hospital and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to win a $700,000 grant to measure the effectiveness of soil treatments to reduce lead exposure in urban areas. The grant, provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), focuses on children in the city’s urban core, where lead poisoning rates can exceed nine times the national average. “I have been having discussions with colleagues at K-State, Children’s Mercy and the EPA for about 10 years,” said Thomas Neff, environmental review officer in the city’s Housing and Community Development Department. “I am proud of the work we put into the application and eager to see results from this multi-year project.” The City will facilitate K-State’s research activities in Kansas City through two current programs. The Child Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (CLPPP), under the direction of Amy Roberts in the Kansas City Health Department (KCHD), will recruit families with children known to be, or at risk of becoming, lead poisoned through its ongoing activities. The Brownfields Program, under the direction of Andrew Bracker in the Urban Redevelopment Division of the Department of City Planning and Development, will identify vacant lots where soil treatments to reduce lead can be applied and studied by K-State researchers under controlled conditions for up to 30 months “I strongly believe we will be able to develop protocols that enable redevelopment of urban neighborhoods more efficiently and effectively and at lower cost,” Neff said. HUD awarded $15.7 million to 18 universities, public health and housing organizations to conduct studies on housing-related hazards - like lead content in soil - and energy efficiency research. The research grants are designed to identify and improve methods for detecting lead and other housing-related health and safety hazards. For more information, media can contact John Baccala.

This press release was produced by the City of Kansas City. The views expressed here are the author’s own.