Boston Developer Must Clean Lead Paint From Thousands of Homes

BOSTON, Massachusetts, November 23, 2004 (ENS) - In one of the largest lead paint enforcement actions in the country, a Boston real estate company has agreed to remove lead paint hazards from 10,400 apartments in seven states and the District of Columbia, and pay a financial penalty, two federal agencies announced Monday.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) charge that WinnResidential Limited Partnership failed to notify its tenants that their homes may contain potentially dangerous amounts of lead.

More than 7,000 of the apartments covered under this enforcement action are located in Massachusetts. The rest are scattered across Pennsylvania, California, New York, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

WinnResidential Limited Partnership and its affiliates own and manage more than 235 housing projects across the country, including over 55,000 units.

The company agreed to pay a $105,000 civil penalty and to test for and clean up all existing lead paint hazards in its units.

The EPA estimates that the cost of lead abatement projects associated with this settlement is likely to be as high as $3.7 million.

Children ingest lead when they touch peeling lead based paint and put their hands in their mouths. (Photo courtesy IDPH)

For children, the effects of lead poisoning may include "damage to brain and nervous system, loss of intelligence, learning disability, behavioral problems, slowed growth, coma, convulsions, and even death," HUD warns.

For adults, the effects of lead poisoning may include high blood pressure, nerve disorders, kidney problems, as well as problems conceiving and having children.

In 2001, there were some 1,100 children in Boston alone with elevated blood lead levels. The majority of cases are in the city’s lower income, ethnically diverse neighborhoods.

"Lead poisoning is a serious health threat for children in New England and around the country," said Robert Varney, regional administrator for EPA's New England office.

"This agreement shows that those of us charged with protecting young children, and our most sensitive populations from lead poisoning, are serious about our jobs," Varney said. "We plan to continue to enforce lead disclosure laws until we reach our goal of eliminating childhood lead poisoning."

Arthur Winn founded Winn Development in 1971 and to date has acquired and developed real estate holdings valued in excess of $1.5 billion. In a laudatory article in the May 2004 issue of the Heritage Media Group's "Boston, In Focus," Winn is portrayed as a caring and concerned developer whose recent efforts have focused on "acquiring and updating troubled multifamily properties."

Arthur Winn is the chairman of WinnCompanies. (Photo courtesy WinnCompanies)

But Mission Main and the company's bright promises on its website are at odds with its handling of lead paint dangers in its older units.

"The WinnCompanies' ResidentsFirst philosophy was established to remind families that we always listen to and meet their needs by providing exceptional customer service, while helping to create a sense of community and good will," the company says on its site.

"This sentiment extends down to the communities' youngest members through the organization's KidsFirst Program. Created to make kids feel good about themselves, KidsFirst offers a supervised atmosphere where children are encouraged to become involved in creative, engaging and educational activities," says WinnCompanies.

By contrast, about one mile from company's headquarters in Boston's historic Faneuil Hall, close to the largest freeway interchange in downtown Boston, is Winn's Castle Square Apartments. The 500 unit building at 484 Tremont Street is covered by the current lead paint enforcement action.

A few blocks away on Tremont Street is another Winn building containing 200 units that the state and federal agencies also had to include in this enforcement action before the company would remove lead paint hazards.

"Despite the fact that so much can be done to keep kids safe from lead paint, too many are still poisoned in their own homes," said Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly. "This agreement sets the standard for the property management industry and sends the message that, through collaboration, we can make significant strides to protect our children from harm."

Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly calls himself "the consummate protector of children." (Photo courtesy Office of the AG)

The first, filed by the Massachusetts Environmental Protection Division, mirrors the national settlement and requires the company, to comply with the state’s lead law.

The second, negotiated by the Attorney General’s Civil Rights Division, requires the company to put detailed policy and procedures in place to prevent discrimination against families with children under the age of six, who are most vulnerable to lead paint poisoning.

"Because lead poisoning often occurs without any obvious symptoms," HUD recommends that "children, women of childbearing age, and adults who may be exposed to lead in the workplace be tested if there is a possibility of lead in their environment."

Children are at the greatest risk of lead poisoning because they put their hands in their mouths and ingest lead dust. This is the most common exposure pathway into the body.

Studies indicate that low income, inner-city children suffer disproportionately from elevated blood-lead levels because they live in older, distressed housing with deteriorated paint and high levels of lead dust.

Nearly 450,000 of the nation's 22 million children under the age of six have blood-lead levels high enough to impair their ability to think, concentrate and learn.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that the percentage of children with elevated blood lead levels has been cut in half since the early 1990s, although the prevalence of childhood lead poisoning in low income, unassisted older housing remains high.

One in six low income children living in older housing is believed to be lead poisoned, the CDC estimates.

About three out of every four homes built before 1978 contains some lead paint on windows, baseboards, trim and doors. Older layers of paint can be lifted during remodeling or repair. Testing by a licensed lead professional is the only way to determine whether any given building is coated with lead based paint.

HUD says that the number of houses with lead paint has declined from 64 million in 1990 to 38 million in 2000. Eliminating lead paint hazards in older low income housing is essential if childhood lead poisoning is to be eradicated.

For more information on lead paint disclosure requirements and other issues regarding lead, visit http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead/disclosurerule/index.cfm or www.epa.gov/ne/topics/pollutants/lead.html.