Today at Yestermorrow we graduated 12 Certified Renovators through the Lead Safety for Renovation, Repair and Painting program offered by the EPA. Did you know that if you are a contractor or carpenter in the U.S. working on a house built before 1978 you need to test for lead paint and follow strict guidelines for the containment and disposal of lead dust when doing any renovations? Did you know you need to be a Lead-Safe Certified Firm?
We were lucky to be able to partner with Vermont Technical College's Center for Sustainable Practices to offer twelve of our faculty, staff and interns this certification, with funding from the VTGreen program which supports green jobs training in Vermont. This 8-hour certification is critical for any contractor who work in older homes, even if they are adding on additions or doing small interior renovation projects.
We learned how to properly test for lead paint, and the proper procedures to follow for containment of dust and debris and clean-up. It's complicated stuff, but important to know in order to prevent lead poisoning (and major fines from the EPA). For more information on how to find a certified renovator RRP course near you, check out the EPA website.
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Hello, I have been restoring buildings historically for 32 years, and have been lead certified in the state of Maryland since it has been required. I used to believe that lead in paint was the major contributer to lead poison in children, not any more.I installed a brand new, re-produced Victorian style porch for a client in summer2009. All new material.In the early fall 09 the client called me seeking advise as to how she should clean the dirt off of her brand new project.(5 weeks old). I couldn't imagine that in 5 weeks there was that much dirt on brand new work, so I went to take a look. Turned out that the state of Maryland was beginning a Main St. Revitalization Project and phase 1 entailed the milling up of 18" of the roadway.The dirt was the result of this process, it was grey and when I wiped my hand over it a sheen developed. How odd, Looked like a lead pencil smudge. When I tested the dirt with approved test kit, 8 tests~ lead positive. Lead in gasoline emissions layered the roadway for many years before it was removed in the late 70's. The cities with slower, stop and go traffic accumulated lots of this "city dirt" stuff. Micro fine lead dust every where!! Luckily, roads were overlayed with new asphalt and this encapsulated the nasty stuff for the most part. Now, however, these road milling operations are scheduled throughout the country. The State of MD contaminated the entire town of Manchester Md. with the worst kind of lead dust. There are no dust collection requirements for this heavy equipment and no State or EPA laws that pertain to this tragedy. Having this experience has caused me to lose faith in the regulating forces that dictate safety to me. They seem to be the largest violators of their own cause.
ReplyDeleteBuck Harmon
Glyndon Carpentry Shop
Upperco, Md.