NEW ORLEANS , Louisiana ( CNN ) -- The students in Alita Richard 's art class at Mcdonough Elementary School # 42 work diligently , quietly with a laser-like focus . Schoolchildren create whatever they choose to decorate the `` Fundred Dollar Bills . '' What kid does n't like to draw , especially given a great deal of freedom to choose his or her own subject ? They are creating Fundred Dollar Bills . Think of a five-dollar bill , and instead of Abe Lincoln 's face the students create whatever they choose to fill in the oblong space . This fake money has a very real purpose . Mel Chin , a conceptual artist from New York , dreamed up the idea as a unique way to fund an extensive effort to clean up the dirt in New Orleans . `` I came to New Orleans after Katrina to try to help like many people , and I began to discover problems that preceded Katrina , `` Chin said . `` The problem specifically is lead in the soil at such high levels that it threatens people that live within 86,000 properties within the city of New Orleans . '' A couple of things are important there . It is a problem that pre-dates the punishing effects of Katrina , and it is so widespread it threatens land that covers a great deal of the city . Some of the lead came from exhaust belched by old cars back before the days of unleaded gasoline . Some comes from factory emissions . But a lot of it comes from old lead-based paints that were used on homes . `` And , what has happened is these particles have floated around and have ended in the soil , '' Chin says . `` The soil is now the sink and the source of the lead , and our specific project , 'Operation Paydirt , ' is to transform that threat . '' Chin quotes a host of medical studies that show ingesting lead can lead to horrific health problems , especially for the young . `` Because lead is readily absorbed , it goes to the brain and the blood , and the bones of a child , '' he says . `` It affects mental capacities . It creates aggressive tendencies . '' Kids play in dirt . They track into houses . Inadvertently they wind up ingesting a certain amount of dirt . Parents may not like it , but it 's what kids do . Effects are especially tough on children from birth until they turn about three -- the time , doctors say , the brain is developing . `` The levels are much higher than the allowable levels that have been set by the EPA , '' Chin said . That 's the problem . The traditional solution to deal with lead in soil has been to simply dump clean dirt on top of the contaminated dirt . That only covers up the problem . And , in a city like New Orleans , it is unrealistic to think you can find enough fill-dirt to adequately deal with widespread contamination . Working with soil scientists Chin found out about a different way to combat lead in the dirt . Researchers have discovered that by mixing a low-level calcium phosphate in contaminated soil , it basically neutralizes the harmful effects of lead , cadmium and other harmful metals . `` That is why 'Operation Paydirt ' is promising . It wants to be transparent . It wants to deliver the message that there 's a problem , '' Chin said . `` It wants to deliver the solution to that problem . '' Watch how `` Operation Paydirt '' works » . Dr. Andrew Hunt , a soil scientist at the University of Texas in Arlington , says it does n't take the lead out of the soil , but the phosphate allows the contaminants to pass relatively harmlessly through the body . As you might guess , this solution does n't come cheaply . It is estimated it will cost about $ 300 million to add phosphates to the soil . And that brings us full-circle back to the Fundred Dollar Bills . Chin wants to create $ 300 million worth of Fundred Dollar Bills . `` And then we 'll take all the bills to Congress , where we will ask for an even exchange of 300 million real dollars , '' Chin said . He has a Web site called Fundred.Org and anyone can go on and create a Fundred Dollar Bill and send it in . The conceptual artist has what he calls a Safehouse in the 8th Ward , in a neighborhood called St. Roch . The building really looks like a safe . The walls are adorned with Fundred Dollar Bills , some coming from celebs like Uma Thurman . But most , the talkative artists says , came from schoolchildren . `` We go to schools because that 's where children are , '' Chin said . `` And since lead compromises educational capacities , we felt that was appropriate . '' Chin has a long way to go . But he is passionate . And he is convinced that as more people tune in to the idea of Fundred Dollar Bills , they will agree it 's the best way to clean up the dirt .
Lead in New Orleans ' dirt is at dangerously high levels . Schoolchildren , artist team up to create ` art for the kids' Score: 7 Project to make lead in dirt harmless would cost $ 300 million .