By Jennifer Edwards
The Cincinnati Enquirer

LIBERTY TWP. - A developer said Friday he planned to have soil tests conducted on land for new homes after neighbors said it had been a shooting site for years and raised contamination concerns.

The developer, Dave Welsh of Welsh Development Co. in Miamitown, bought 44 acres off Yankee Road last fall from a Columbus man who used the property as a family retreat. Welsh plans to expand an existing subdivision and build a new one.

He said he has paid for an environmental study that found nothing to indicate any problems. But the soil wasn't tested.

Welsh said he never saw a need to test the soil because the former owner never told him shooting occurred on the land.

But, after being contacted by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the Enquirer, he said he toured the site Friday with an environmental consultant and will test the soil.

He stressed that neither he nor the consultant thinks there will be a problem.

"I am trying to get in front of this thing and head it off before it turns into another Lexington Manor," Welsh said, referring to the lead- and arsenic-contaminated subdivision nearby that was built on a skeet shooting range that is now a U.S. EPA Superfund site.

"I'm doing what I think is the prudent and responsible thing at this point, and that is to look into the allegations and make sure they are nothing of concern."

Ohio EPA officials have looked into residents' concerns but don't plan any action. They did give the developer a list of soil testers, said Harold O'Connell, a supervisor in the agency's Dayton division of hazardous waste.

The EPA did not order Welsh to test the soil.

Residents along Ivory Lane off Yankee Road said they were relieved Friday that tests would be done and applauded Welsh's move.

"Wow, that's a dramatic turnaround. That's great news," said Mike Pietrantano, president of the Ivory Lane Homeowners Association. "It's important to everybody in the community to find out do we have a situation like Lexington Manor or don't we? And the only way to find out is to test it. We may be doing him a tremendous service. If he finds it now, it's correctable and won't be as costly as if there were homes in that subdivision."

The residents will press their concerns Tuesday at a 7 p.m. public meeting at the Liberty Township hall. EPA and other officials will meet to discuss Lexington Manor, outline the cleanup plan and answer questions.

"There was a tremendous amount of shooting out there every weekend, from sunup to sundown," Pietrantano said. "We won't rest until we are shown by qualified professionals this land is contaminant-free from lead."

The land's former owner, Mark Gleaves of Columbus, declined to be interviewed. But according to Welsh's attorney, Jack Grove of Fairfield, Gleaves has stressed to Grove that there was only occasional shooting by two or three people at a time, and it was contained to an area that cannot be developed, on a utility easement.

Welsh said he was surprised by the residents' complaints, calling them unfounded. He suspects they are upset about losing the green space behind their homes and may just be trying to halt the new subdivision

Exposure to lead damages the brain, nervous system, kidneys and other tissues. So far, there are no indications at Lexington Manor that anyone has suffered health problems from exposure to soil.

Skeet shooting ranges typically generate more lead than shooting ranges, said Randy Watterworth, a manager in the OEPA's Dayton office.

Frank Chapman of Comey & Shepherd Realtors in West Chester Township said he would recommend the developer have the soil tested and then publicize the findings. Otherwise, Chapman said, Realtors would have difficulty marketing the homes.

"I'm sure the only hesitation (to test the soil) is the cost. But I think it would be dollars well spent to check it out and make sure there's a clean slate," Chapman said.

E-mail: jedwards@enquirer.com.