Lead Paint Chief Retires

The embattled head of New Haven’s lead paint enforcement program has retired after 39 years with the city.

The official, Environmental Health Director Paul Kowalski, resigned his post effective July 12, according to a memo from the city’s Human Resources Department.

The Harp administration had already placed Kowalski on administrative leave last month. Administration officials refused to explain the reason for the move, calling it a ​“personnel matter.” However Mayor Toni Harp claimed that the move did not relate to Kowalski’s enforcement of lead paint laws or his handling of millions of dollars in federal lead paint removal funds.

The city’s record in enforcing, or not enforcing, lead paint law has come under fire in the past year, as four separate state judges have chewed out officials for failures and ordering remediation. In one court hearing, in which Kowalski participated, it was revealed that his staff was continuing to try to keep track of cases with handwritten rather than computerized files.

Mayor Harp on July 1 announced a new policy — a reversion, actually, to a previous policy that had been changed, in which the city takes actions against landlords of apartments where children have blood test results showing lead levels of at least 5 micrograms per decileter. She appointed a task force to look at how to strengthen enforcement. Meanwhile, legal aid lawyers are pursuing a class-action lawsuit against the city in state court on behalf of hundreds of potentially lead-poisoned children.

“We’re going to move forward” with those changes, Harp said Monday when asked about Kowalski’s retirement. She has asked her department heads to find $150,000 in the budget to pay for hiring more lead inspectors.

Response Filed

Meanwhile, on Friday, New Haven Legal Assistance Association (NHLAA) Director of Litigation Shelley White filed a response to the city’s recent commitment to keep fighting against legal aid’s latest child lead poisoning lawsuit.

White’s reply came three days after city-contracted attorneys filed two legal memoranda in state Superior Court opposing the certification of a class of upwards of 300 lead-poisoned children under the age of 6 years old with elevated blood lead levels above 5 micrograms per deciliter (μg/dL) in the case Nyriel Smith v. City of New Haven.

“Defendants argue that Plaintiffs’ proposed class cannot be certified,” White wrote, ​“conflating the requirements for the different types of classes authorized by state and federal law, drawing improper distinctions between similarly situated lead-poisoned children, claiming the Named Plaintiffs no longer have standing, and casting aspersions on counsels’ experience and capacities. As discussed below, not one of the arguments in opposition to Plaintiffs’ motion survives even minimal scrutiny.”

Click here to read legal aid’s full response.

State Superior Court Judge John Cordani, who in a previous order clarified the local definition of lead poisoning as matching the federal Centers for Disease Control’s reference level of 5 μg/dL, must now decide on whether or not to certify the class and thereby order the city to conduct lead inspections and enforce lead hazard abatements for over 300 children’s apartments throughout New Haven.

Previous lead coverage:

• Lead Paint Fight Rejoined
• Harp Switches Gears On Lead
• Motion Accuses City Of Contempt
• City Loses Again On Lead
• Briefs Debate ​“Lead Poisoning”
• New Haven: Another Flint?
• Harp Administration Admits Relaxing Lead Standard To Save $$
• Class-Action Suit Slams City On Lead
• City, Legal Aid Clash On Lead Paint
• Legal Aid To City: Get Moving On Lead Paint Law
• 100+ Tenants Caught In Lead Limbo
• 2 Agencies, 2 Tacks On Lead Paint
• Chapel Apartments Get 3rd Lead Order
• Lead Sends Family Packing
• Health Officials Grilled On Lead Plans
• Judge Threatens To Find City In Contempt
• Same Mandy House Cited Twice For Lead Paint
• Lead $ Search Advances
• 3 Landlords Hit With New Lead Orders
• Another Judge Rips City On Lead
• Judge To City: Get Moving On Lead
• Health Department Seeks Another $4.1M For Lead Abatement
• City-OK’d Lead Fixes Fail Independent Inspection
• Judge: City Dragged Feet On Lead
• 2nd Kid Poisoned After City Ordered Repairs
• Judge: City Must Pay
• City Sued Over Handling Of Lead Poisonings
• City’s Lead Inspection Goes On Trial
• Eviction Withdrawn On Technicality
• 2nd Child Poisoned; Where’s The City?
• Carpenter With Poisoned Kid Tries A Fix
• High Lead Levels Stall Eviction
• 460 Kids Poisoned By Lead In 2 Years
• Bid-Rigging Claimed In Lead Cleanup
• Judge Orders Total Lead Paint Clean-Up
• Legal Aid Takes City To Task On Lead