NOTE: The Maryland Office of the Attorney General shared the following press release:
Judgment Permanently Bans Green Environmental, LLC Operator from the Industry
BALTIMORE – Attorney General Anthony G. Brown announced that a Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge has ordered a lead paint inspector to pay $8.7 million and permanently banned him from the industry for fraud.
The ruling against Green Environmental, LLC and its principal operator, Rodney Bryan Barkley, follows Barkley’s criminal conviction and sentencing earlier this year for falsifying lead paint certificates and related environmental violations.
The civil action, filed by Attorney General Brown on behalf of the Maryland Department of the Environment, sought penalties and injunctive relief for violations of Maryland’s lead inspection and lead risk reduction laws. The court also recognized radiation violations, including the possession of unlicensed radioactive materials and unregistered machines, the failure to test unlicensed radioactive materials for leaks, the improper use of unlicensed materials and unregistered machines.
The court entered judgments of $4.88 million against Green Environmental and $3.85 million against Barkley.
In addition to the monetary judgments, the court ordered that Barkley is permanently prohibited from owning or participating in the operation of any lead inspection company. The court also ordered Barkley to surrender any X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) devices in his possession to the Maryland Department of the Environment within 30 days.
The civil judgment stems from an investigation by the department for issuing fraudulent inspection certificates and improper use of the testing device, leading the department to revoke more than 1,400 lead inspection certificates across the state.
