WASHINGTON, D.C. — Milwaukee's lead crisis received more national attention Tuesday as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified before a Senate subcommittee, claiming his department is providing assistance that local officials say doesn't exist.
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The issue began in January when the Milwaukee Health Department notified Milwaukee Public Schools about potential elevated blood lead levels for students at four different school buildings. From there, the crisis snowballed, resulting in the temporary closure of multiple school buildings to allow for cleanup and remediation.
On Tuesday, Kennedy told senators that HHS has personnel working directly with Milwaukee officials to address lead exposure in children.
"We're continuing to fund the program," Kennedy said. "In Milwaukee we have a team in Milwaukee and are giving laboratory support to the analytics in Milwaukee and are working with the health department in Milwaukee."
Watch: Milwaukee health department contradicts HHS secretary's claim of federal lead crisis support
However, a spokesperson for the Milwaukee Health Department contradicted Kennedy's statement.
In an email to CNN, Caroline Reinwald said the department has not received any federal support to fight lead in Milwaukee Public Schools.
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Reinwald told CNN the department did recently get help from a lab technician from the CDC’s Laboratory Leadership Service. The technician was there from May 5 to May 16 and to help calibrate a new instrument in the city’s laboratory.
“This support was requested independently of the MPS crisis and was part of a separate, pre-existing need to expand our lab’s long-term capacity for lead testing,” according to the statement provided to CNN. Beyond the lead contamination in schools, the city has ongoing programs to test for and remediate lead in the city’s aging homes.
The health department's request last month for assistance with the lead crisis was met with a letter from the CDC stating that its federal lead program had been terminated.
"None have been rehired from our lead program or our division," Dr. Erik Svendsen, who was director of the Division of Environmental Health Science and Practice, which oversaw the childhood lead program, told CNN on Tuesday.
MPS recently published its Lead Action Plan which includes a proposal to hire two full-time employees to manage the lead program in the "near future." However, several key details remain unclear, including total costs and a firm timeline.
This story was reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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