Sharon Coolidge

scoolidge@enquirer.com

The federal government fined a Cincinnati apartment management company and ordered it to clean up 136 of his properties after children who lived in the homes fell ill from lead poisoning.

At least five children who lived in the properties were found to elevated lead levels in their blood. Lead exposure causes reduced IQ, learning disabilities, developmental delays, reduced height, poorer hearing, and a host of other health problems in young children.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Ohio, and the U.S. EPA announced a settlement against Meyer Management, Inc. for failing to inform tenants that their homes may contain potentially dangerous lead.

The agreement requires Meyer Management to replace windows and clean up lead-based paint hazards in 136 residential properties containing 224 units, a clean-up estimated to cost $350,000.

The company must also pay a $7,500 civil penalty.

"Through these enforcement actions, EPA is sending a clear message to landlords and property managers that protecting children from exposure to lead-based paint is one of our highest priorities," EPA Region 5 Administrator Susan Hedman said.

Terry Meyer, the owner of Meyer Management in West Price Hill, could not immediately be reached for comment.

The settlement is the third joint Residential Lead Act enforcement action in Cincinnati and was the result of coordination among local health officials and federal investigators. HUD, EPA and the Department of Justice are continuing similar enforcement efforts around the nation, and so far have taken enforcement actions in which landlords have agreed to conduct lead-based paint hazard reduction in more than 186,745 apartments and pay $1,466,399 in civil penalties.

In addition, defendants have been forced to do $703,750 in community-based projects to reduce lead poisoning nationally

In settling these cases, landlords have committed to expend more than an estimated $31 million to address lead-based paint hazards in the affected units.

Cincinnati City officials are in the midst of considering a possible cut to the Lead Hazard Abatement program, which followed up on cases where children are poisoned by lead and makes sure landlords keep property lead hazard free. As part of a decision how block grant money should be spend, the program is set to take to a 19 percent cut, going from $495,000 to $400,0000.

In the settlement, the federal government accused Meyer Management of violating the Federal Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act (Residential Lead Act) by failing to inform tenants that their homes may contain potentially dangerous levels of lead, according to the federal government.

The lead-poisoned children prompted lead inspections and risk assessments of all the owner's properties and the discovery that Meyer Management, Inc. had "specific knowledge" of lead in as many as 21 of the units in its properties.

Meyer Management, Inc. will ensure that information about lead-based paint will be provided to tenants before they are obligated under their lease, according to the federal government.

"Children should be protected from lead's destructive and permanent effects," said Matt Ammon, Director of HUD's Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes. "We hope this settlement serves as a reminder to housing providers to do the right thing and let families who rent know about lead in their homes so they can protect their children from its hazards."

Why lead-based paint is so bad

Lead exposure causes reduced IQ, learning disabilities, developmental delays, reduced height, poorer hearing, and a host of other health problems in young children. Many of these effects are thought to be irreversible. In later years, lead-poisoned children are much more likely to drop out of school, become juvenile delinquents and engage in criminal and other anti-social behavior. As reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers found that even at low levels, lead exposure in children can significantly impact IQ and even delay puberty in young girls.

At higher levels, lead can damage a child's kidneys and central nervous system and cause anemia, coma, convulsions and even death. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 4 million households have children living in them that are being exposed to high levels of lead.