AUGUSTA — A bipartisan group of Lewiston-Auburn lawmakers is again asking the Maine Department of Health and Human Services to pick up the pace on implementing new lead-poisoning standards that were passed into law more than eight months ago.
The change, which would see Maine conform with federal blood-lead levels for children, could set in motion remediation efforts for dozens of buildings in the Twin Cities.
Lawmakers say the issue, based on recent events in Flint, Mich., should be treated as a public health emergency, but DHHS has instead moved to a rule-making process that could take another four months to implement.
The new law lowers the threshold that determines when a child is considered to be lead-poisoned. The new law sets the standard at 5 micrograms per deciliter of blood. The current standard is 15 micrograms per deciliter.
Local lawmakers say every day that goes by without implementing the new standards means low-income families and others who live in some of the Twin Cities’ oldest housing stock face exposure to a known neurotoxin that’s causing irreversible brain damage to children in their communities.
Since September 2015, lawmakers have twice asked DHHS for information on why the department has not taken action to implement the new standards that were made law months ago.
The second letter from lawmakers, dated Feb. 23, has so far gone unanswered, department spokeswoman Samantha Edwards confirmed Wednesday. Edwards wrote in an email message that the department did not receive the second letter until March 2. The first letter in September did not request a response, Edwards said.
In an email message later Wednesday, Edwards said emergency rule-making was “impractical” for the new lead standards.
“The number of inspections that will occur in the state under the rule change is quite substantial,” Edwards wrote.”Even if the Department chose to make it an emergency rule — which would have been valid for only 90 days, there would still be a delay in when the new program/regulations could begin because the state would need to find staff, train and find contractors who want to do the work.”
Rep. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, said the department responded to the September 2015 request for information and told lawmakers the new rules were drafted for implementation and were left sitting on “someone’s desk waiting for approval.”
“This has been dragging on for months now,” Rotundo said, “against the background of the tragedy in Flint. I’m enormously disappointed they still have not acted. Every day that goes by puts more and more children in jeopardy of being poisoned by lead in our Maine communities, and we shouldn’t be jeopardizing their health and their futures.”
Rotundo’s home city is among those that have a high rate of lead poisoning in low-income children. Lewiston and Auburn combined have been referred to as the “epicenter” for lead poisoning in Maine by public health advocates and those who advocate for affordable housing.
Rotundo said the delay on new rules and new standards as well as a delay in hiring four additional staff members at DHHS to help implement the standards, which would help cities and towns identify buildings in need of remediation, was inexcusable.
Sen. Eric Brakey, R-Auburn, who also signed the Feb. 23 letter to DHHS, said he wanted to see action from the department because neighborhoods in his city are affected by lead poisoning.
“I supported the bill; lead poisoning is a real problem in some of the older housing stock we have in the Lewiston-Auburn area,” Brakey said. “I signed the letter encouraging the department to move faster with the rule-making process, and I hope they do move as quickly as possible to get things in place so we can begin to take action.”
Testimony on the original bill from Maine doctors and other health care experts said the latest data on lead is clear and that the sooner lead poisoning is detected, the better the chances are that long-term neurological damage can be prevented.
“Over the last 50 years, we learned ingestion of this heavy metal can damage a young child’s production of red blood cells, causing anemia and even low levels of lead can have neurotoxic effects that result in irreversible developmental delay,” Dr. Stephen Meister of Winthrop told lawmakers in April 2015.
Also testifying in favor of the bill was Lewiston Mayor Robert Macdonald, who told the committee he sees the effects of lead poisoning on low-income children in his city.
Macdonald said that from 2009 to 2013, 467 Maine children were identified with blood-lead levels of 10 micrograms per deciliter or higher, an amount twice Maine’s new standard. Macdonald said 97 children in that group lived in Lewiston and Auburn.
“I have a great affection for the children of Lewiston,” Macdonald told the committee in April 2015. “I worked for many years in the local schools, working directly with them. Their energy, creativity and ambition are among the city’s best assets. Unfortunately, far too many of those children are having their lives limited at a young age by lead poisoning.”
Sen. Amy Volk, R-Scarborough, the sponsor of the original legislation, said Wednesday that she, too, was disappointed but was under the impression DHHS was beginning to craft new rules and implement them.
Volk said she was told DHHS did not want to move to emergency rule-making on the new standards because department officials felt there should be a public hearing on the new rule. That process would allow those affected by the new rules, such as local landlords, a chance to give feedback to the department before implementation took place, Volk said.
“Our rules in Maine, as they are now, are stricter than other states — that’s my understanding of it,” Volk said. She said Maine would be the first state to implement the new lower blood-level limit for lead poisoning.
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