By Jennifer Edwards
The Cincinnati Enquirer

LIBERTY TWP. - A subdivision under federal scrutiny because of lead contamination from an old skeet-shooting range has been declared a Superfund site.

That will trigger a cleanup that is expected to begin this summer.

Superfund status means the subdivision, Lexington Manor off Millikin Road, is now considered a hazardous-waste site and "a time critical removal action" of the lead is necessary, said Steven Renninger, the on-scene coordinator in the Superfund division of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Cincinnati office.

"We want to move as quickly as we can to get this work done," Renninger said. "There is a threat to public health or the environment."

The cleanup likely will last months and include sampling yards, to determine which ones are contaminated, and excavation of the lead-contaminated soil.

The U.S. EPA can make the parties responsible for the contamination pay for the cleanup and is in negotiations with them. The EPA wants the parties, Ryland Homes, the subdivision's builder, and Lexington Manor Inc., the developer, to sign a federal consent decree that will outline the cleanup plan, which the EPA will oversee.

The announcement came Thursday night at a meeting EPA officials held with Lexington Manor residents to update them on the investigation. Earlier Thursday, the EPA had its first meeting with representatives from Ryland Homes and Lexington Manor Inc.

Renninger said the meeting was "very productive," and he was encouraged the two parties would quickly work with the EPA to resolve the problem. No cost has been estimated.

In a phone interview late Thursday, a Ryland official agreed.

"We have the same goals in mind and we look forward to a continued productive process and expect to come to an agreement and sign the consent decree," said Anne Madison, a Ryland spokeswoman. "Our intent from the very beginning is to make this situation right."

Lexington Manor residents said they, too, were encouraged by the developments.

They were, however, alarmed to hear Thursday from the EPA that arsenic, which also is hazardous, recently was found in lead shot pellets that are in at least one yard, and that a sample the EPA took in a yard detected a hazardous lead level of 72,000 parts per million (ppm). The maximum standard for lead levels in bare soil areas is 400 ppm. Dozens of other samples also have detected high lead levels.

"We have one daughter, and I am real concerned now," said Kristine Twardowski, 38. "We have 37 kids in our neighborhood and a few more on the way. We also aren't happy that our yards will be torn up, but we do feel we don't have a choice on this."

Lead at Lexington Manor became an issue late last year when a soil test from a yard turned up high lead levels. Residents contacted the Ohio EPA, which launched an investigation. Exposure to lead can lead to behavioral disorders, brain damage or death.

Ryland paid for two rounds of soil testing and was about to begin a third when the Ohio EPA asked the U.S. EPA to head the testing last month.

Meanwhile, 19 Lexington Manor families have sued Ryland, Lexington Manor Inc. and others involved in the lead remediation. The families want punitive damages and the land properly tested and cleaned. Some also want Ryland to buy back their homes, which range from $190,000 to $330,000.

But the residents are most upset, they say, that Ryland did not tell them about the lead from lead pellets and that the 25-acre site used to hold a skeet-shooting range.

Ryland officials knew previous high lead levels existed. But, they stress, they had been assured concerns over lead contamination had been properly addressed and the land was safe for homes.

E-mail jedwards@enquirer.com.