State inspectors rarely have to issue formal violation notices to contractors or homeowners engaged in lead-paint removal, the official says.

01:00 AM EST on Tuesday, December 6, 2005

BY BRANDIE JEFFERSON
Journal Environnment Writer

PROVIDENCE -- An informal notification is usually all that is necessary to get a messy contractor or homeowner to clean up a potentially hazardous work site during lead-paint removal, a state official testified yesterday.

Dean Albro, chief of the office of compliance and inspections at the state Department of Environmental Management, told the jury in the state's trial against companies that made and sold lead-based paint that his office has rarely had to take the next step -- issue a formal notification of noncompliance.

Going back to 1999, Albro said, his inspectors have issued, at most, five formal notifications a year.

The inspections office enforces environmental regulations related to air pollution from the lead paint dust that can occur when someone practices unsafe renovations on the exterior of a house.

The inspectors, Albro testified, spend most of their time responding to complaints; the overwhelming majority comes from residential neighborhoods, but the office is also involved in monitoring industrial work sites.

Albro, who has worked at the DEM since 1977, told state's lawyer Neil F.X. Kelly that in the past few years, the number of complaints has gone from around 165 per year to approximately 130.

During cross-examination, Albro told Donald Scott, lawyer for NL Industries, that his office has never had to serve a cease-and-desist notice, refer a complaint to the attorney general's office, or take a noncompliant contractor to court -- all of which the inspections office has the authority to do.

Scott asked Albro whether the new self-certification program, which allows contractors to register with the DEM as compliant once they complete the work, made it easier for contractors to practice safe paint removal.

It's not easier, Albro said, but the contractors are becoming more aware of the laws.

"The hope is to educate them more so we get more compliant contractors," he said.

Brandie Jefferson has a fellowship with the Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting. She can be reached at bjeffers@projo.com.