EPA fines Biddeford landlord for violating lead paint rules

PORTLAND – The owner of a Biddeford apartment building has agreed to pay the Environmental Protection Agency more than $24,000 for violating lead paint disclosure rules.

The EPA said the property owner, 94 Cleaves Street Corp., violated federal law by renting an apartment to families with children under 6 without telling them of the presence of lead paint.

The company, owned by Priscilla Dunn, agreed to pay a $6,750 cash penalty and spend at least $17,797 on lead paint abatement projects at 94 Cleaves St. and another property at 16 Chapel St. in Biddeford.

According to the EPA, after a confirmed case of childhood lead poisoning in 1998, the Maine Department of Human Services ordered Dunn to remove lead paint hazards from the building.

After Dunn did not comply, the state took her to court where a judge ordered her to remove the hazards, DHS spokesman Newell Augur said.

The EPA said that on three occasions after receiving the abatement order, Dunn’s company rented units in the

building to families with children without fully notifying the renters of lead paint hazards.

Lead paint is still one of the most serious public health concerns for New England children, the EPA’s New England administrator, Robert Varney, said in a statement.

The EPA had proposed Dunn’s company be fined more than $38,000.