HARTFORD – Today, U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), along with U.S. Representatives Rosa DeLauro (CT-3), Jim Himes (CT-4), and Elizabeth Esty (D-5),  announced $2.9 million in federal grants to protect families from lead paint and other home health hazards in Naugatuck Valley Health District. 

“Lead can cause serious damage for children and families, and unfortunately the risk of lead poising spikes in the summer,” said Murphy. “Now is the time to remove old pipes and lead paint so families can feel safe in their homes. This almost $3 million federal grant will go a long way for the Naugatuck Valley.”

"Lead poisoning can cause devastating and irreversible damage, especially to our nation’s children,” Blumenthal said. "By addressing lead hazards head-on, this critical federal grant will help ensure that Naugatuck Valley children and their families are growing, playing, and learning in safe, lead-free homes."

“Connecticut’s homes are some of the oldest in the nation and are at an alarmingly high risk for having lead paint. With this funding, we can ensure that more of our children and families can live in a safe, healthy environment,” said DeLauro. “There is no ‘healthy’ level of lead for the human body and we must act to address this issue. Congress should build on this funding and enact the Healthy Homes Tax Credit Act to help ensure that homeowners can raise their children in a place where they do not have to worry about toxic substances.”

“We spend a lot of time and energy worrying about threats from outside,” said Himes. “But, sometimes, the threats from inside are the most insidious.  Directing federal resources toward combatting lead poisoning and other health hazards is a priority statement. We are saying loud and clear that the health of our families and children deserves more attention.”

“Parents shouldn’t have to worry about their kids being poisoned by pipes or paint in their own home, and they certainly shouldn’t have to go into debt to protect their children,” Esty said. “These grant funds will help protect potentially hundreds of Connecticut families from the lifelong health impacts of lead exposure. But Congress still needs to do its part and pass the Healthy Homes Tax Credit Act, so that homeowners in Connecticut and across the country have the resources they need to keep their families safe.”

The Naugatuck Valley Health District will be awarded $2,500,000 in Lead Based Paint Hazard Control grant program funding and $400,000 in Healthy Homes Supplemental funding to address lead hazards in 118 housing units and provide safer homes for low-income families with children. Naugatuck will partner with Connecticut Children's Medical Center, Connecticut Citizen Research Group, the Hartford and the Yale-New Haven Regional Lead Treatment Centers as well as various local governmental agencies and community organizations to implement the program.