Attorney General Peter Kilmartin and the Rhode Island Department of Health today filed a lead paint complaint in Providence County Superior Court against a Massachusetts landlord, George Homsey, Jr., owner of a property at 87 Barstow Street in Providence. The suit is seeking the property declared a public nuisance and the immediate abatement of all lead hazard nuisances. The State is seeking the Court impose the maximum penalty of $100 per day from the date of the second notice of violation, January 6, 2010, and the state’s costs associated with the complaint.
The complaint was filed after Homsey continually ignored notices of violations by the Dept. of Health, dating back to November 2009. The defendant has 20 days to respond to the complaint.
The action is brought pursuant to the Lead Poisoning Prevention Act, the Housing Maintenance and Occupancy Code, and the Rules and Regulations for Lead Poisoning Prevention. The Lead Poisoning Act is intended to reduce exposure to environmental lead and prevent childhood lead poisoning, which has been determined the most severe environmental health problem in Rhode Island.
Data compiled by the Dept. of Health show that of the 12,384 children who will enter kindergarten in 2011, 2.4 percent, or 302, have had an elevated blood lead level. Childhood lead poisoning, which can attack the nervous system, can result in learning disabilities, behavioral problems and impaired coordination. High levels of lead may cause a person to suffer brain damage, mental retardation and even death. The most significant sources of environmental lead in Rhode Island are lead-based paint in older housing and house dust and soil contaminated by such paint.
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