Lead progress but more work to do

It’s great news that the levels of lead in Pittsburgh’s drinking water have declined to the lowest point in 20 years, as reported in the July 23 article “PWSA: Lead Levels Greatly Reduced in City’s Water.”

However, we should not rest on our laurels that our lead problems are over.

Here in Pittsburgh, the leading source of lead poisoning in our children is dust from lead-based paint, according to Allegheny County Health Department inspections. This is not surprising, as more than 80% of Pittsburgh homes were built before 1978, when lead-based paint was common and subsequently banned. In every corner of our city, cracked or chipped paint, renovations, demolitions and more are causing lead poisoning.

Why is this so important? There is no safe level of exposure to lead. None. Lead poisoning causes permanent cognitive and behavior damage — especially in young children whose brains are still developing — including reduced IQ, behavioral problems, slowed physical development, hearing loss and more.

Since there are no effective treatments for lead poisoning, the only solution is preventing exposure to lead in the first place. Which is why a safer water supply is a great start. The next steps are eliminating other lead exposures by ensuring lead-safe housing, by requiring lead-safe renovation practices and by performing lead-safe demolitions in our communities, for starters.

Get the Lead Out, Pittsburgh is a public awareness campaign advocating for change, helping families affected by lead poisoning and informing our community, including upcoming information sessions for city residents. Join us at gettheleadoutpgh.org.

MICHELLE NACCARATI-CHAPKIS Executive Director Women for a Healthy Environment East Liberty

Pass HEROES Act

As the coronavirus wreaks havoc across the country and here in southwestern Pennsylvania, laid-off workers have yet another burden to face: the end of the $600 unemployment benefit provided by the CARES Act. This much-needed benefit, which has now expired, has quite literally meant life or death for millions of America’s families, including thousands here in the Pittsburgh area. It has enabled families to afford groceries, pay their rent and cover other basic expenses. That is why it is absolutely essential that the U.S. Senate pass the HEROES Act immediately.

The HEROES Act will also help shore up our local and state governments, allowing them to provide the services to the general public that are needed now more than ever. Without this federal funding, we will have a record number of layoffs, cuts to social services and diminished school funding — a perfect recipe for economic catastrophe. We need to keep our families, and indeed our regional economy, afloat as we make our way through this crisis. I am calling on Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., to join Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., in supporting this critical lifeline and to pass the HEROES Act without delay. DARRIN KELLY President Allegheny/Fayette Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO Duquesne Heights

Empowered fight

I grew up in the little suburb of Shaler and when I moved to Squirrel Hill in 2016, it felt like a completely different city.

Shaler is a peaceful place, mostly. Mount Royal Boulevard is our main street, lined with shops and homes. But for as long as I lived there, Shaler had serious problems with bigotry as a whole — that’s why I left. However, Shaler is not completely isolated from the world, and change (whether the citizens like it or not) is coming. We have a long way to go.

Local students organized Shaler’s first Black Lives Matter solidarity rally on July 25. We stood on Mount Royal, right in front of the middle school, and were met with disgusting vitriol. About 25 counterprotesters, dubbing themselves the “Back the Blue Rally,” waved Donald Trump signs and “Thin Blue Line” flags at us. While a Black child spoke about his experience at school, chants of “Go back to Africa” erupted across the street.

Later, the crowd started a chant of “Kill transgenders.” Worse still, the police stood with the Back the Blue protesters. To the organizers’ credit, the BLM supporters stayed peaceful despite interlopers doing their best to instigate. We were there to support Black Shalerites, not engage with hate.

It was sad to see this part of the neighborhood stand on the opposite side of Mount Royal, but I still came away from the ordeal hopeful. There is a long road ahead for Shaler, but the Black Lives Matter protesters outnumbered the racist opposition 8 to 1. For the first time I can remember, I felt empowered to fight for my hometown. It belongs to the future. CHRISTINE CHIRDON

Squirrel Hill