Two Westbrook companies fined for failing to warn tenants about lead paint

Two companies will pay penalties and remove lead-based paint in their Westbrook apartment units under a settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The parties are 80 Brown Street LLC and Sherwood Properties LLC, which own and lease, respectively, four apartments in a residential building at 80 Brown St.

Under the terms of the settlement, both companies have agreed to pay a combined penalty of $37,459, spend $57,700 to perform two lead-based paint abatement projects and comply with the federal lead-based paint disclosure rule.

In early 2020, the EPA received a tip about a lead-based paint hazard at one of the four units at the location. Shortly after, a 2-year-old was tested and found to have an elevated blood lead level.

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention ordered abatement of the unit and relocation of the family. The EPA learned that in 2017, representatives of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services inspected the four units in the building and determined that all four contained lead-based paint. One of the units contained lead-based paint hazards that required abatement, which was subsequently completed.

After investigating the matter in 2020, the EPA learned that the two companies leased out the apartments without disclosing to tenants proper information about the presence of lead-based paint. Two of the four units were leased to families with children.

“Every family deserves to live free of exposures to lead-based paint,” said David Cash, the EPA's New England regional administrator. “It is the responsibility of landlords and property sellers to provide prospective tenants or homeowners with a notification about possible lead paint hazards in the property,”

The EPA said the violations alleged against the companies included the landlords’ failure to inform tenants of known lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards in their apartment building, failure to provide tenants with copies of records and reports regarding lead-based paint, failure to provide tenants with a statement within or attached to the lease contract that disclosed the presence of lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards, and failure to provide to tenants a list of records and reports pertaining to lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards.

As part of the settlement, the companies also agreed to hire a licensed lead-abatement contractor to perform abatement at two residential properties near the 80 Brown St. property.