The City of New Haven is complying with a judge’s order to inspect and abate potential lead exposure at the homes of two children, who have an amount of lead in their blood that the Centers for Disease Control says puts them at risk of long-term health effects.
New Haven Mayor Toni Harp says in a press release that she does not think the ruling should apply to a class of about 300 children living in the city who have similar amounts of lead in their blood.
Shelley White is with New Haven Legal Assistance, the group that filed the class action lawsuit.
“Our concern is that basically what the city wants is for us to step down, to withdraw the case, to quote, ‘give them breathing room’ to come up with a quote ‘new policy.’ That’s not the way it works in litigation. What we’re trying to do is resolve the case.”
White says she is disappointed that the city is spending money on more lawyers to try to get the class action suit thrown out, instead of spending the money to clean up the lead.