We think it can be said that attorneys who have sued the former manufacturers of lead-based paint products to hold them accountable for their part in causing the scourge of lead poisoning in our cities, have, in some measure, helped push those manufacturers into limited community action aimed towards eradicating dangerous lead-based paint in old houses.
A manufacturers’ association has a role in the CLEARCorps Project, which first surfaced in certain cities where legal actions had been pending against the manufacturers, including Baltimore, Milwaukee, St. Louis and Chicago.
The CLEARCorps Project is a program jointly partnered (and funded) by The National Paint and Coatings Association, which includes as members former manufacturers of lead-based paint products and the Shriver Center at the University of Maryland, a community service foundation.
Using a further partnership with Americorps, it is claimed that CLEARCorps has helped reduce poisoning risks for 2,150 children by funding and conducting hands-on lead hazard control work in 1,026 homes between January 2000 and March 2004.
As of this writing, CLEARCorps does not appear to have an affiliate group operating in Western New York, however, concerned New Yorkers can check out the website for CLEARCorps and take note of the project’s mission statement “Core Values” which asks families to take PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY in protecting their children from lead poisoning.
The CLEARCorps brochure, not surprisingly, says nothing about the MORAL RESPONSIBILITY borne by the manufacturers of lead-based paint for their role in coating our older housing with toxic paint when, years ago, lead was known to be dangerous and poisonous to humans.
Visit: www.clearcorps.org and click to download CLEARCorps “latest brochure.”