An incident that caused lead paint chips to rain down from a 1,000-foot broadcast tower onto homes, parks and daycare facilities in Baltimore has led to a $2.2 million settlement against a paint-removal contractor and the company that hired it.
The agreement stems from a civil lawsuit filed by Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown’s office, alleging that Television Tower Inc. (TTI) knew its tower contained lead-based paint before the repainting project began.
From May 28 to June 21, 2022, Skyline Tower Painting performed scraping and power washing along the exterior of the tower, officials say. Because no controls were in place to contain the paint chips, they fell onto the surrounding neighborhoods as far as a half-mile away.
TTI is owned by a trio of Baltimore-area TV stations: WBAL, WJZ and WMAR.
The tower is situated in an area informally known as TV Hill, surrounded by a community with an environmental justice score of 88 out of 100. The score indicates a high existing pollution burden and population vulnerability, according to the Maryland Department of the Environment’s environmental justice mapping tool.
Exposure to lead can cause harm to the brain, nervous system and development of young children. It can also have deleterious effects on wildlife, with compounding impacts as it moves its way up the food chain.
Two paint chip samples taken from the fallout were tested and showed lead concentrations of 19.6 and 6.2 milligrams per liter, both above the hazardous material safety threshold of 5 milligrams per liter.
“We understand the impact this has had on the community, and it’s important to say clearly that this should not have happened,” said MDE Secretary Serena McIlwain. “This case underscores why strong environmental safeguards — and the careful handling of hazardous materials like lead — are so essential to protecting public health.”
In a separate criminal case, Skyline Tower and its president, Christopher Mecklum of Scottsbluff, NE, each pleaded guilty last December to violations related to the incident and were fined $50,000 apiece.
Big deal, so you fined everybody involved. So why is the State the only one getting money ?? What will the money go to ?