New Haven Lead Settlement, Mandating Pipe Inspections And Clean Ups, Now In Effect

WSHU | By Cassandra Basler

Published August 18, 2021 at 6:12 PM EDT

A class-action settlement agreement that aims to protect New Haven children from lead poisoning has officially gone into effect.

A state superior court judge signed off Tuesday on a settlement between the City of New Haven and 300 families, where children under the age of 6 tested for elevated levels of lead in their blood.

The settlement details dozens of steps the city must take to inspect and enforce the clean-up of lead exposures in the city’s aging housing stock. Lead can be found in cracking paint, polluted soil and aging water pipes.

The agreement stays in place until 2024. It ends a lawsuit that was first filed against the city’s health department in 2019 by New Haven Legal Assistance.

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Cassandra Basler

Cassandra Basler oversees Connecticut Public’s flagship daily news programs, Morning Edition and All Things Considered. She’s also an editor of the station’s limited series podcast, 'In Absentia' and producer of the five-part podcast Unforgotten: Connecticut’s Hidden History of Slavery.

See stories by Cassandra Basler

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