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FEDERAL CASES SETTLED INVOLVING LEAD-BASED PAINT HAZARDS
Release Date: 10/04/2001
Contact Information:
FOR RELEASE: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2001
FEDERAL CASES SETTLED INVOLVING LEAD-BASED PAINT HAZARDS
Luke C. Hester 202-564-7818 / [email protected]
Luke C. Hester 202-564-7818 / [email protected]
EPA was involved in several federal government settlements on Oct. 2 with three landlords in Chicago for failure to warn tenants that their apartments may contain lead-based paint hazards. Together with similar cases in New York City and Los Angeles, the settlements by EPA, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Justice will result in $328,000 in civil penalties and child health improvement projects. The agreements also called for testing and cleanup of lead based paint hazards in more than 16,000 apartments nationwide. EPA also filed an administrative complaint against Hyde Park Realty, Chicago, Ill., which manages nearly 1,000 apartments in Chicago, alleging that there were 2,600 counts of violating the Lead Hazard Reduction Act’s disclosure requirements. In the cases brought jointly by the three federal agencies, three other Chicago area real estate companies, Wolin Levin, Inc., East Lake Management and Development and Oak Park Real Estate, Inc., were accused of failing to inform their tenants of potential lead hazards in nearly 10,000 apartments in Chicago and Cincinnati. The companies are required to pay $90,000 in penalties, to pay other penalties that will benefit local children’s health projects, and to test and abate any lead-based paint found in their properties. The Lead Disclosure Rule requires that landlords and sellers of housing constructed prior to 1978 to provide each purchaser or tenant with a lead hazard information pamphlet, any information and reports concerning lead-based paint in the property and a Lead Warning statement to be signed by both parties. Lead exposure causes various health and development problems in young children. Nearly one-million children under the age of six have blood lead levels high enough to impair their ability to think, concentrate and learn. Further information on the lead risks is available at: www.epa.gov/leadhazard.
R-183 ###
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