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Letter: Banning lead paint step in right direction

November 20, 2018

I read in the newspaper that the governor has signed a bill to ban all outdoor lead paint in the State of Delaware. 

First I think it is great that the bill has passed and been signed off to that extent. But the shocking bit of information is that all homes that were built after 1987 were never to be painted with lead paint, since that was the year lead paint was banned forever. What was I thinkin? Better yet, what were the people who banned the lead paint only on houses thinking?

Think about all of the industrial sites, water towers and bridges located in Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland, that have been poisoning you and me, and all of our family members. Sandblasting mixed with the lead paint, chemical cleaners, lead paint particles left over from the sandblasting, all have been entering into our streams, rivers, bays, the Atlantic Ocean and our water supplies.

Think about the lack of regulations on how to clean up and dispose of all of this waste left from the cleanup that has continued to take place long after the lead paint was banned in 1987 in our homes, office buildings and churches.

There are still a lot of old buildings, homes and churches that still have lead paint on the walls, windowsills, and windows and doors. This is going to be a very costly issue to deal with going forward, but it needs to be done right. 

Lead paint is just one of still many issues that continue to contaminate our water supplies in Delaware and throughout the country. At least this bill continues to lead us to a better tomorrow.

David A. Gordon
Lewes

 

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