Homes near Paterson Great Falls will have lead paint removed as part of $2M project

PATERSON — A city nonprofit is getting $1.98 million from the state to remove lead paint from 104 homes in several neighborhoods surrounding the Great Falls.

The state’s Department of Community Affairs announced on Tuesday that the Paterson-based New Jersey Community Development Corporation, or NJCDC, will be one of seven groups statewide sharing $6.77 million in federal COVID-relief money earmarked for the lead-paint project.

"No child or adult should have to live with the detrimental and lasting health effects of lead poisoning,” said Community Affairs commissioner Jacquelyn A. Suárez in announcing the funding.

The Paterson group plans to spend $250,000 for lead paint abatement in 10 homes and $1.22 million for lead paint remediation in 94 others, said NJCDC executive director Bob Guarasci.

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Abatement is the more comprehensive cleanup compared to remediation and is used on homes with extensive lead paint contamination, he said.

“We’re very pleased to receive this funding so we can work with residents to rid their homes of the scourge of lead paint, which often leads to untoward health problems for young children,” Guarasci said.

The grant also will provide relocation money for families while the work is going on inside their homes, he said. The NJCDC’s next steps will be hiring a project coordinator and an outreach worker to begin identifying homes that need lead paint cleanups.

The funding is geared toward the NJCDC’s Great Falls neighborhood, an area that Guarasci said encompasses 90 blocks and 14,000 people, extending from the Taub middle school on Union Avenue on the north side of the Passaic River down to School 3 on Main Street to the south.

Nonprofit groups in Camden, Essex, Middlesex, Salem, and Union counties also received funding for the lead paint projects.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Homes near Paterson Great Falls will have lead paint removed as part of $2M project