With project staff and equipment in place, Syracuse began to develop outreach and educational 
materials. These included promotional flyers, informational booklets, report templates, and 
how to guides for wet cleaning and using the HEPA vacuums. Chapter 4 contains specific 
information and examples of these outreach materials. 
Step 7: Project Implementation 
To get the project underway, staff worked 
with the CBOs to recruit participants, con¬ 
ducted dust sampling and analysis, set up 
home visits for mitigation and training on the 
cleaning process, initiated the HEPA vacuum 
lending program, started conducting post¬ 
mitigation sampling and reporting, and began 
holding regular meetings with program part¬ 
ners. Syracuse also designed a program Web 
site. See Section 3.2 below for more details 
on the steps taken by Syracuse to implement 
its lead dust project. 
Step 8: Program Evaluation 
Because of EMPACT s focus on monitoring 
and outreach, measuring the effectiveness of 
the mitigation component of the project has 
not been elaborate. Nonetheless, the project 
conducted a spot check of the effectiveness 
of its mitigation intervention (e.g., informa¬ 
tion about the 3-step cleaning method and 
the HEPA vacuum loaner program). 
In the implementation of its program, 
Syracuse found that its schedule was influ¬ 
enced by many variables some not antici¬ 
pated and out of its control. Project staff 
successfully resolved several major implemen¬ 
tation hurdles that affected the original proj¬ 
ect schedule. Two steps, in particular, took 
longer than expected and required significant 
effort to accomplish. The first was the devel¬ 
opment, refinement, and ultimate approval of 
the Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP), 
as required by EPA. The QAPP is discussed 
in Chapters 3 and 6 and is provided in its 
entirety in Appendix B. The second was the 
sequence of steps involved in purchasing the 
X-ray fluorescence (XRF) equipment. A New 
York State radiation license is required for the 
purchase of an XRF. Since Syracuse did not 
already have a radiation safety officer involved 
Mitigation Is Not Abatement 
U sing a HEPA vacuum and following the mitiga¬ 
tion steps explained in Chapter 7 of this case 
study only cleans the accumulation of lead dust but does 
not abate, or eliminate, the source of lead dust in a 
home. Mitigation helps curb exposure to lead dust but 
will not prevent lead dust from recurring. Residents or 
homeowners who want to determine whether their lead 
dust problem is serious enough to require abatement 
should consult with a certified risk assessor. 
A certified risk assessor is trained to determine the exis¬ 
tence, nature, severity, and location of lead-based paint 
hazards in a residential dwelling. A risk assessor can rec¬ 
ommend ways to control lead-based paint hazards, 
including abatement. The National Lead Center Hotline 
(800 424-LEAD) can help residents locate a certified 
risk assessor, or visit <www.epa.gov/lead/leadcert.htm> 
and click on Training and Certification then scroll 
down to the bottom of this page for an interactive map 
of authorized state lead programs. These links provide 
lists of lead professionals. Untrained individuals should 
never attempt to abate lead-based paint hazards in their 
home without professional help. 
When lead-based paint exists on surfaces such as walls, 
ceilings, woodwork, windows, and sometimes floors, res¬ 
idents and homeowners should take the following pre¬ 
cautions to prevent the creation of dust: 
• Do not dry scrape or dry sand on painted surfaces. 
• Avoid puncturing holes in walls with lead-based paint 
or encapsulated or enclosed walls. 
• Do not repeatedly bump furniture or other objects 
into older painted surfaces. 
• Avoid unnecessarily opening and closing windows or 
doors with painted sills or frames; these friction sur¬ 
faces can cause paint to deteriorate and can cause lead 
dust to be generated. 
Lead Dust Project overview 
1 V 
