New construction renews pride in our community

Drive around town on a pleasant spring day, and you'll find plenty of reasons to find pride in our community. With the current housing crunch, new construction like the East Ward Village and numbers of private homes are signs that residents are willing to make long-term commitments to our town and make the investments to prove it.

It's encouraging to those of us with more of a preservationist bent, however, to see owners invest thousands of their own dollars and hours of time into restoring older homes to their original glory.

There are hidden hazards to any remodeling project, however, and for any house or apartment built before 1978, one of them is lead.

Common remodeling activities like sanding, cutting and demolition can create hazardous lead dust and chips by disturbing lead-based paint, which can be harmful to adults as well as children.

Realizing that lead-based paint can be a hazard to do-it-yourselfers as well as children, pregnant women other family members, officials offer the facts about lead:

* Lead exposure can harm young children and babies even before they are born.

* Even children who seem healthy can have high levels of lead in their bodies.

* You can get lead in your body by breathing or swallowing lead dust, or by eating soil or paint chips containing lead.

* You have many options for reducing lead hazards. In most cases, lead-based paint that is in good condition is not a hazard.

* Removing lead-based paint improperly can increase the danger to your family.

* If you think your home might have lead hazards, go to epa.gov/lead or call EPA Region 7 at 1- 800-223-0425 and ask to speak with a lead paint specialist.