New Orleans plans to revamp the commission that oversees city parks and playgrounds and is seeking $5 million in federal aid after an investigation published by Verite News and KFF Health News found high levels of lead contamination in playgrounds throughout the city.
Mayor Helena Moreno signed an executive order on April 7 that creates a task force to improve the New Orleans Recreation Development Commission. One of the task force’s duties will be to “consider and make recommendations regarding the costs and practicalities of implementing a program to assess and remediate safety and environmental concerns at NORDC facilities and playgrounds, including the existence of lead in soil” and other environmental issues, according to the order.
About a week before Moreno signed that order, Deputy Mayor of Health and Human Services Jennifer Avegno announced that city officials were working with the state’s congressional delegation to request $5 million in federal funds for the federal fiscal year that starts in October. That money would go toward testing and the possible cleanup of playgrounds with elevated levels of lead. She said her office is also reviewing past city records, working with the city’s in-house experts in its Planning Commission’s Brownfield Program, and reviewing Verite’s soil test results.
“We’re trying to figure out, with whatever pots of money we can get, how can we make a more sustained and meaningful impact than we have been able to in the past?” Avegno said during an April 1 panel discussion of Verite’s lead contamination investigation.
Email Sign-Up
Subscribe to KFF Health News’ f …