Appendix 
EM PACT Lead-Safe Yard Project in 
Boston, Massachusetts 
About the Program 
The EMPACT Lead-Safe Yard Project (LSYP) in Boston, Massachusetts was a three-phased, 
community-based program that used a variety of low-cost techniques to reduce children s expo¬ 
sure to elevated levels of lead in residential soil. The project s goals were (1) to generate real¬ 
time data of lead concentrations in residential yard soils using innovative field-portable x-ray 
fluorescence (XRF) technology and to communicate these data to residents; (2) to plan and 
implement low-cost and sustainable landscape measures in residents yards that would reduce 
children s risk of exposure to contaminated soil and that residents would be taught to maintain; 
and (3) to develop a template that other communities and public agencies can use to address 
the issue of lead in residential soil. Each partner organization was assigned tasks to implement, 
including outreach and education, safety training, sampling and analysis, soil mitigation, and 
creation of a template for community action. 
Partner □ rganizatidns 
During the pilot phases, the project s community partners in the Boston area were Boston 
University School of Public Health, the Bowdoin Street Community Health Center, and two 
non-profit landscaping companies, Dorchester Gardenlands Preserve and Garden Futures. 
Identifying the Audience 
The initial target community selected for the first two phases of the project was a several-block 
area in the Bowdoin Street neighborhood, consisting of approximately 130 mostly older, wood¬ 
framed houses in the North Dorchester section of Boston. This is an inner-city community, 
with a large minority and immigrant population. Bowdoin Street is situated in the lead belt 
of Boston, where the majority of children in the city with elevated blood levels reside. 
During the third phase of the project, the program targeted a different community the 
Dudley Street neighborhood which is also located in the lead belt of Boston. 
□ utreach Barriers and Strategies 
In an effort to gain support for the project, EMPACT LSYP followed a model commonly used 
for community education and outreach: a bilingual outreach worker from the community 
health center conducted typical outreach activities, including walking in the neighborhood, 
knocking on doors, distributing flyers, speaking at community meetings, and talking with peo¬ 
ple one-on-one. These efforts were culturally specific to the neighborhood and conducted at an 
appropriate literacy level. 
After Phase 2 of the project was completed, outreach workers returned to the homes where yard 
work had been performed and interviewed its occupants. They found that people had not really 
comprehended the lead problem, but viewed the project more as a landscaping program. To 
remedy this, the outreach worker underwent more extensive training on the lead issue and then 
returned to the site with a video to teach residents about the hazards of lead. After viewing the 
video, the residents were given a short quiz, and then had the opportunity to discuss the topic 
afterward, thereby utilizing three modes of learning: visual, written, and oral. 
9 2 
Appendix D 
