The Technology Transfer and Support Division of the EPA Office of Research and 
Development s (ORD s) National Risk Management Research Laboratory initiated the develop¬ 
ment of this case study to help interested communities learn more about lead dust monitoring 
and education programs, to provide them with the technical information they need to develop 
their own programs, and to minimize the resources needed to implement similar programs in 
other cities. Both print and CD-ROM versions of the case study are available for direct online 
ordering from ORD s Technology Transfer Web site at <www.epa.gov/ttbnrmrl>. A PDF version 
of the case study can also be downloaded from the Syracuse Lead Dust Outreach, Monitoring, 
and Education Project at <http://syrempact.lead-safe.com>. In addition, copies of the case study 
are available by contacting ORD publications at: 
EPA ORD Publications 
26 W. Martin Luther King Drive 
Cincinnati, OH 45268-0001 
EPA National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP) 
Toll free: 800 490-9198 
Local: 513 489-8190 
Available in hard copy or CD-ROM. 
1.2 About the Syracuse Lead Dust Outreach, 
Monitoring, and Education Project 
Syracuse initiated its Lead Dust Outreach, Monitoring, and Education Project (the Syracuse 
Lead Dust Project) in 1998. The objective was to establish a community-based effort to provide 
local residents with information to assist them in reducing their exposure to lead dust in resi¬ 
dential and public buildings. The project targets minority, immigrant, and low-income residents 
with a focus on families with small children who live in buildings constructed prior to 1978. 
Priority is given to households with children under the age of six. 
Syracuse s Lead Dust Project collects lead dust level samples, analyzes the samples, reports 
results to the residents, and coordinates community outreach and education. If a lead hazard is 
present in a home, Syracuse staff contacts the participant, provides training in a three-step 
cleaning method, and informs the resident about a High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) vac¬ 
uum loaner program. If the data indicate that a lead hazard is not present, the participant 
receives a written copy of their individual sample results. 
Syracuse, located in central New York, is a medium-sized city with a 2000 Census population 
of 147,000. The city s housing stock is relatively old more than 58 percent of the housing 
units were built prior to 1940, more than 22,000 of which are considered substandard. 
Approximately 64 percent of the housing stock is rental property. In the city s revitalization 
areas, 68 percent of children under age 5 live in poverty, and 1,435 children under the age of 
six have elevated blood levels, according to 1998 data collected by Onondaga County Lead 
Poisoning Control. 
Working cooperatively with the county s poison control program and its Healthy 
Neighborhoods Division, along with seven community-based organizations (CBOs), Syracuse is 
using grant funding from EPA s EMPACT program for lead dust outreach, monitoring, and 
mitigation in 350 homes located in the same neighborhoods targeted by the city s HUD lead 
hazard control program. 
2 
Chapter 1 
