Children were at risk so Detroit promised to halt demolitions. But that didn’t happen. – Detroit Free Press

Lyriq Wilson shut her eyes and clutched the stickers in her hand.

It was mid-October2019 and a fall chill swirled through the air in Auntie Nas community health clinic on Detroits west side. Outside, children shrieked as they painted pumpkins during the neighborhoods annual bazaar.

But inside the clinic, the tension was palpable.

Were almost done, just one quick poke and itll be over, a Detroit Health Department employee told Lyriq in a soothing voice, as she prepped the machine to prick the 6-year-olds finger. See? All done.

In the background, Sonia Brown, the founder and no-nonsense visionary of the community-centered Auntie Nas Village, watched, her eyebrows furrowed with worry, as the small group of health department staff huddled to await Lyriqs lead test results.

Brown was nervous.

She haswitnessed this scene play out before with other children in her neighborhood because of a silent threat lurking in the citys 48204 ZIP code: lead exposure. And she hasoften wondered whether the citys aggressive demolition program, which has razed more than 21,000 vacant and blighted structures, has had anything to do with it.

Ashleigh Adams, a city health department employee, tests the lead levels of Lyriq Wilson during a community bazaar put on by Sonia Brown, also known as Auntie Na, on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2019 in Detroit.Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press

A 2017 Detroit Health Department task force report concluded there was a potential link between the high number of demolitions occurring in the city during the summer months and elevated blood lead levels of children who live near the demolition sites. The city announced in early 2018 that it would halt nonemergency demolitions in five of the most at-risk ZIP codes48202, 48204, 48206, 48213 and 48214 fromMay through September.

Except it didn't.

A joint Type Investigations and Detroit Free Press investigation found the city approved a large number of nonemergency demolitions in some of the riskiest areas of the city and is now asking voters to approve a quarter-billion-dollar bond referendum to do even more demolitions, despite that record. When city officials approved demolitions, they sometimes appeared not to follow their own rules.

Work crews in those same neighborhoods continued to raze a total of 219 homesduring mid-2018 and in mid-2019. Almost half of them were nonemergency demolitions.

"That strikes me as a very high number, said Nick Schroeck, the director of the University of Detroit Mercy's environmental law clinic, who has followed the demolition programs environmental issues closely over the years. Schroeck added that the number seems to be unacceptably high if they really were focused on the health and safety aspect of stopping demolitions to make sure they got it right."

U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit,said she's troubled by the newspaper's findings, calling the demolitions during the moratorium a "grave injustice" for the community. Tlaib said it reinforces her reasoning for pushing for more oversight over the program, which has received hundreds ofmillions of dollars in federal support.

"We continue to seem to dismiss the fact that for years we've been told that no amount of lead is safe," Tlaib said. "This is essentially federally funded pollution. They took federal funds and polluted our communities, our bodies, our air. … The one thing that's very, very clear is the lack of transparency and accountability in these decisions that are being made about land use."

Since he was first elected in 2013, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan has made Detroits demolition program the centerpiece of his vision to transform the city by knocking down tens of thousands of blighted houses and buildings. Aggressive implementation of that plan has brought the city more than halfway toward that goal. But the ambitious strategy also has led to several problems, including state and federal safety and corruption probes.

Some of the abandoned homes along Yellowstone Street, near Auntie Nas Village, Saturday, October 19, 2019 in Detroit, Mich.Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press

A March 6, 2018, memo written by former Detroit Health Department Director Dr. Joneigh Khaldun said only emergency demolitionsfor structures that posed an imminent danger would be allowed during the moratorium in those five ZIP codes.

But of the 219 demolitions that occurred in 2018 and 2019, just under half 48%, or 105 totalwere not emergency demolitions, according to a Free Press analysis of completed residential demolitions posted on the citys website.

City officials, who would respond only in writing to the Free Press questions and declined on-the-record interviews, dispute the newspapers findings that the city didnt follow its own moratorium.

The timeline for an individual demolition process is variable and in a small number of cases the demolition timeline was too far along to delay completion until October, the city said via email.

When asked why nonemergency demolitions took place during the moratorium period, a spokesperson for the mayors office said that the demolitions completed during these months had already been initiated, and the potential risk of leaving those structures open and exposed for five months was weighed against the risk to public health of tearing them down.

Guidance from a June 7, 2019, memo to a city councilwoman from then-interim health director Jean Ingersoll pledged that demolitions were to be done with the strictest possible safety precautions and advance notice to families, including spacing demolitions at least 45 days apart. The health department provided additional direction later that demolitions in the five ZIPcodes also required a 400-foot separation.

Yet, that wasnt always done.

The Free Press found that in the summer months of 2018 and 2019, dozens of houses within 400 feet of one another were demolished and many were razed within 45 days of leveling of a nearby home some even on the very same day.

For example, in 2018, three properties on the 8800 block of Canfield within 400 feet of each other were demolished by the same company overtwo daysin late June.

One week later, less than 400 feet away from the Canfield cluster of demolitions, another contractor demolished two homes on the same dayinthe 4400 block of Holcomb across the street from each other.

The map below shows 2018 summer demolitions in the target ZIP codes, including a 400-foot radius around each site.Click on each point to see the demolition date, contractor and price.

In response to questions about these demolitions, the city claimedthe rule stating demolitions could not be performed within 400 feet of each otherapplied only to nonemergency razings, despite the citys own internal memo. All five demolitions completed in late June and early July were nonemergency, according to city data.

Properties slated for demolition are typically awarded to contractors after a bidding process in packages ranging from one house to more than 100 houses at a time.

According to 2019 bid requests reviewed by the Free Press, the properties are typically bid on in clusters within close proximity of one another. In several instances, the packages includedstructures on the same street. Contractors often tear clustered homes down on the same day or within a handful of days to reduce demolition and hauling costs. While it's more efficient, it conflicts with the city's purported safety guidelines that were set for the five impacted ZIP codes.

At the end of September 2019, three houses in a row at the end of the 4200 block of Webb Street were demolished on the same day, according to an analysis of city records. All of these buildings in the 48204 ZIP code were torn down by the same contractor. In this case, the multiple demolitions were classified as emergencies.

Search the map below to see 2019 summer demolitions in the target ZIP codes.

Elevated lead levels among Detroit's children are all too common in many corners of the city. In 2018, the most recent year for which data is publicly available, 14% or 99 of the 706 children under age 6tested in 48204had blood lead levels above 5micrograms per deciliter. Thats the threshold the state considers to be an elevated blood lead level, according to the report from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

Detroit is home to nine of the top 11 ZIP codes in the state for highest rates of elevated blood level in tested children under the age of 6, including 48206, which has the highest.

Citywide, 7% of all tested children under 6had an elevated blood lead level in 2018. Thats more than double the states rate of 2.9%. In the U.S., lead paint and dust in homes may account for up to 70% of childhood cases of elevated blood lead levels, according to one 2008 study.

And lead exposure disproportionately affectsBlack children across the nation. Black children have the highest rates of elevated blood lead levels, according to a national study published in February. The study found Black children who live in poverty are four times as likely to have elevated blood lead levels above 5 micrograms per deciliter compared with white or Hispanic children. In Detroit, 43% of children live below the federal poverty level.

Schroeck noted this has been an issue decades in the making fueled by structural racism, redlining and other exclusionary tactics that forced many Black Americans to live in heavily polluted areas, industrial zones and older housing that disproportionately exposes them to lead and other pollutants.

Children in Detroit are exposed to more pollution than children in suburban communities, its just a fact, Schroeck said.

The need for demolitions remains great. The city so far has completed more than 21,000 demolitions since 2014. In July, the mayors office estimated that roughly 14,000 blighted structures still need to be taken down.

But the citys estimates may be a vast undercount. The Detroit Blight Removal Taskforce, a group convened by the Obama administration, estimated in May 2014 there were more than 84,000 properties with structures in severe disrepair or at risk of becoming so.

The citys demolition program has long been plagued by problems, including a lack of transparency, a lengthy federal probe over bid-rigging and environmental violations, and contractors who didnt follow the rules.

The Duggan administration says there are newly implemented safety measures to protect its most vulnerable residents despite the speed and scope of its efforts.

We are unaware of a single protocol of any environmental regulations of any state in America that is more stringent than the city of Detroits protocols in managing the environmental risks of demolitions, mayoral spokesman John Roach wrote. In other words, the city of Detroit demolition protocols would meet or exceed the strictest standards of any state in America.

But on that October day last year, Sonia Brown didnt care about why or how houses were being demolished in her neighborhood.

All that mattered was Lyriq.

Brown is known as Auntie Na throughout the neighborhood.A community pillar, Brown transformed her dead-end block on Yellowstone Street into Auntie Nas Village, where she lives in her two-story home near other homes repurposed into a student-run health clinic, a food pantry and community gathering place.

Sonia Brown, also known as Auntie Na, talks about the community bazaar she sponsors as part of her community outreach program Saturday, October 19, 2019 in Detroit, Mich.Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press

To friends and neighbors, shes known for doling out tough love, food and shelter to anyone in need, no questions asked.

According to 2018 data, Browns ZIP code ranked fourth in the state for the percentage of children tested with elevated blood lead levels.

So as the houses around her came down, Brown worried that the demolitions themselves were doing more harm than good, potentially exposing children to greater levels of lead.

ButLyriq found out she was relatively lucky that day.

Her blood lead levels tested at 4 micrograms per deciliter of lead,just below the 5 microgram level.

It seemed like a weight lifted in the room as Lyriq put her pink coat on to go back outside, her hair twists flopping behind her.

Will I be able to paint my pumpkin still? she asked, aiming her wide brown eyes at Brown, who nodded and said: Go on ahead, baby. Have fun.

As Lyriq dashed off without a tear, anxiety over the test results quickly returned.

Brown isnt a doctor, but she knows any amount of lead in a child is alarming. Both state and CDC guidelines warn that theres no safe blood lead level. Even low levels of lead have been shown to affect IQs, the ability to pay attention and academic achievement, according to the CDC.

Despite Lyriq's blood lead levels falling below the government'srisk threshold, the health department workers said they planned to suggest that her mother follow up with her pediatrician.

Brown, the neighborhood's matriarch, still has questions, as Mayor Duggan is now asking residents of Detroit to vote in November in favor of a $250 million blight bond that would fund thousands more demolitions across the city.

Read More: Bond experts raise caution flags on Detroit's $250M anti-blight borrowing plan

How long have our loved ones and our children been poisoned? Brown asked. If all of these homes still have lead, what's happening to all that lead and what's happening when you're tearing the house down and my babies are out in the lots over there playing in the playground? Im not trying to put my city down and I'm not kicking my city, but I'm kicking those that's over my city.

Lead poisoning has long been a serious concern for Detroit. According to a report from the citys demolition safety task force, 93% of the citys housing stock was built before 1978, when the federal government banned consumer use of lead-based paint.

So, the state of Michigan considers all children in the city to be at-risk, according to the Lead Pediatric Clinic at the Childrens Hospital of Michigan. Dr. Kanta Bhambhani has been the director of the clinic since 1983.

We still do see a few children with very high lead levels, which really should not happen in this day and age, Bhambhani said, adding the amount of children with high blood lead levels in Detroit has decreased over time.

Families affected by lead exposure are typically offered nutritional support and environmental methods to remove the source of the lead, but those who have extremely high levels of lead may be admitted to the clinic for other forms of therapy, according to the lead clinic. Testing typically focuses on children 6and under.

We know also that the chances of the child developing ADHD and other behavioral problems are much higher in children with lead poisoning, Bhambhani said. We say that 5to 9micrograms per deciliter is considered to be a level of concern, meaning that no child should have a level like this. ... Now, more and more scientific data is coming out that even levels less than 5can be harmful to the child and as an advocate for a child, I would say that no level is safe.

She said in Detroit,health officials must consider every potential source: including the citys widespread demolitions.

Volunteers work on a play scape during the community bazaar put on by Sonia Brown also known as Auntie Na Saturday, October 19, 2019 in Detroit, Mich.Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press

Thats a very legitimate concern, Bhambhani said. There's no question, especially in the summer months when children are playing outdoors, and the demolition of the house next door may have hadeven if they removed every scrap of the old debris I'm sure there would be still a scattering of lead dust in that area, and would be a potential source of lead for these children.

Duggan began his fight against blight in 2014, soon after he was elected to his first term. He envisioned creating the nations largest demolition program to remove large swaths of residential blight from neighborhoods across the city. The program has moved aggressively at Duggans direction, leading some to question the public health impact of demolitions.

Concerns about the potential link first arose in an analysis led by then-Detroit Health Department Director Abdul El-Sayed in May 2016.

Abdul El-Sayed on Tuesday, July 17, 2018.Quinn Banks, Detroit Free Press

El-Sayed said he became curious after a meeting of the Lead Safe Detroit coalition, a group of city departments and community partners who coordinated childhood lead prevention and removal efforts. The coalition was discussing a group of kids who had recently been exposed to lead and possible sources of exposure when a nurse mentioned a couple houses had been demolished in the childrens neighborhood.

It was time, according to El-Sayed, to take a deeper look, knowing that it would be difficult to do since no one can state for certain where a childs lead exposure originated. Another challenge, El-Sayed said, was that demolitions cluster where housing quality is low and theres poverty, which means kids are more likely to be exposed anyway.

Its really a hard analysis to do, El-Sayed said in an interview. You have to be able to isolate all of the other things that cause lead poisoning in a child. … As we kept peeling back and isolating more and more, it became really clear that there was a clear link here. And it was statistically significant.

The analysis found that, for a child, living within 400 feet of a demolition site increased theodds of having elevated blood lead levels by 20%. If there were two or more demolitions that occurred, the chances grew by 38%. The study also estimated that demolitions may be connected to at least 2.4% of Detroit children with elevated blood lead levels. Its unclear whether more could have been attributed to demolitions because not all of Detroits children have been tested for lead poisoning.

El-Sayed commissioned a task force of internal and external experts to issue recommendations for reducing exposure to and potential health impacts from possible lead dispersion.

The group recommended improvements to notification and enforcement processes that can lower risks of exposure. One of the recommendations was providing families with hotel, travel and recreational vouchers that would give them the ability to leave neighborhoods while demolitions occurred.

El-Sayed said health department officials became concerned about the citys demolition program and potential health impacts because of the large volume and speedy pace involved.

But the city never approved some of the suggestions, like the housing vouchers, saying in response to Free Press questions that the Department of Neighborhoods strongly objected to the imposition on families, uprooting them from their neighborhoods.

The task force posted its recommendations in February 2017.Shortly after, El-Sayed left his city post. (He later launched an unsuccessful Michigan gubernatorial bid.)

By the next year, El-Sayed and Duggan were exchanging fiery words in a public spat over the citys handling of the demolition program and the former health department directors concerns. In an interview with Michigan Radio on April 12, El-Sayed said Duggan didnt want to pay attention to the fact that Detroits demolitions program is poisoning kids with lead up until this year.

Duggans administration fired back.He is misrepresenting the very studies to which he refers and even his own tenure as Detroit's healthdirector. El-Sayed then upped the ante in a statement, calling for a citywide halt to demolitions during summer months of 2018.

City officials said their work didnt end when El-Sayed left the city. Dr. Khaldun,who took over for El-Sayed at the city health department and is currently Michigans Chief Deputy Director for Health and Human Services,began reviewing the documents and recommendations with the task forceto understand the data.

Dr. Khaldun directed the department to do a more comprehensive analysis of the association between demolitions and EBLLs (elevated blood lead levels), even as she moved forward in taking immediate steps to reduce potential exposure to lead dust, city officials said in a statement.

Khaldun adopted some of the task forces recommendations: improving public communication about demolitions:additional training for contractors; a demolition checklist for contractors and independent inspectors; wind advisories for demolitions to avoid days with high wind speeds, and standard street and sidewalk wetting procedures to reduce possible environmental contamination.

She also launched Detroits Interagency Lead Poisoning Prevention Task Force in 2018, which developed a community health worker program with door-to-door outreach in (the top)fiveZIP codes, providing in-home lead testing of children and pregnant women, cleaning kits for any potential lead dust in the home, and in-home testing for lead paint.

She also launched the summer moratorium on select demolitions in 2018, according to the city.

Khaldun did not respond to a request for comment for this article.

The city said two separate analyses by the Detroit Health Department, found there was no evidence of an association between demolitions and elevated blood lead levels in 2018 and 2019.

There was a statistically significant association between demolitions and EBLLs (elevated blood levels)in previous year (sic), most notably 2016, mayoral spokesman John Roach wrote in an email.

But one of the citys most recent analyses, which included data from 2014-18, did find a relationship between elevated blood lead levels among Detroit children and demolitions.

Over the five-year period, the likelihood of having an elevated blood lead level was 19% higher among children who had a demolition occur within 400 feet of their home and were tested for lead within 45 days of the demolition. Among children exposed to two or more demolitions, the odds of having an elevated blood lead level was 63% higher compared withchildren with no demolition activity.

The study also found the relationship between demolition activity and elevated blood lead levels varied by year.Specifically, in 2017, a statistically significant relationship was found between one or more demolitions and childrens blood lead levels. In 2014 and 2016 a relationship existed only in the case of twoor more demolitions.

In 2016, the odds of an elevated blood lead level were 136% higher among children exposed to twoor more demolitions the highest increase found in any year. There was no relationship between demolition activity and lead levels in either 2015 or 2018.

The latest results, according to the city, demonstrate that improved protocols are working. The health department rescinded the moratorium,which stated nonemergency demolitions would be halted in five at-risk ZIP codes across the city,in early August but noted other safety protocols remain in effect. The department said it plans to perform an analysis on an annual basis.

They support the notion that the health and safety protocols implemented and strengthened within the demolition program over time are effective in protecting childrens exposure to lead, the city said.

And now, four years after first raising concerns in 2016 about a potential link,El-Sayed says he believes the results of five-year study show the administration took the necessary steps to address the potential link.

The new evidence shows that the risk of lead poisoning in relation to demolitions has been addressed, El-Sayed said.

"And so, I think this is how you want government to work. You want, when there's a challenge, that government takes those challenges seriously and then works to address them, and makes them go away, and that is what happened in this case."

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Children were at risk so Detroit promised to halt demolitions. But that didn't happen. - Detroit Free Press