CLEVELAND — A new report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) said the Cleveland Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) did not tell the federal government about children with lead poisoning at its properties.

What You Need To Know

  • Report said CMHA did not report 14 cases of children with elevated lead levels

  • Cleveland city council is asking the department of public health for an independant invesigation  

  • Rate of lead poisoning in Cleveland is four times the national average

Members of Cleveland City Council are demanding action following the report, which said CMHA did not report 14 cases of children with elevated lead levels to HUD, as required by federal regulation.

The report said CMHA also covered up paint that may have been the source of that lead exposure, potentially compromising test results that could have identified lead hazards. That means future tenants and their children may have been exposed.

The report found CMHA didn't consistently conduct thorough environmental investigations in five of the 14 cases and didn't investigate one of those cases at all. 

Dr. David Margolius, public health director for the City of Cleveland, said he's looking forward to having discussions with council and that there is much more work to be done to make Cleveland a lead-safe community.

"CMHA certainly needs the opportunity to explain all of the steps they have taken and are taking to protect our children,” Margolius said.

A statement from CMHA read in part, "CMHA has a long-standing commitment to proactively addressing LBP (lead-based paint) in our housing developments. We are dedicated to continuous improvement in our LBP management practices until this critical issue is fully resolved for all CMHA residents."

Reverend Darrick Wade lost his son to lead poisoning in 2007. He believes his son was exposed when the family lived in CMHA housing years earlier.

He filed a class action suit against CMHA after his son and other children who lived in his housing unit tested positive for high levels of lead but said he dropped the suit after CMHA promised to address the problem. He said he believes CMHA is simply sweeping the lead issue under the rug.

"That's just incompetence. And I believe the type of attitude that it's okay, ‘We do what we want to do. We we're in charge.’ But now it’s come back again,” Wade said.

City council wants to bring CMHA, the city's building and housing department and the health department together to explain their lead testing policies.

They're asking healthcare providers to partner with the city health department to test all children living in CMHA units for lead. They want CMHA to lay out its testing plan, including who it hires to complete testing, a testing schedule and methodology.

More than 90% of homes in Cleveland were built before lead paint was banned in 1978, and the rate of lead poisoning in Cleveland is four times the national average, according to the Lead Safe Cleveland Coalition.

CMHA have an existing process for identifying lead, but the inspector general's report said the visual assessments meant to identify lead hazards weren't happening on time. In seven cases, they were overdue by 150 days or more. 

City council wants the city's health department to conduct an independent review and is demanding CMHA come up with a plan to address all of the problems uncovered by the report.