Ensuring Kids are Free from Lead Exposure Helps Them Stay Healthy and Ready to Learn, Thrive, and Succeed in School and Life
BALTIMORE (July 31, 2025) – The Maryland Department of the Environment is invalidating more than 1,400 lead inspection certificates across the state, requiring any tenant-occupied rental properties to be reinspected for lead paint hazards due to an inspector’s failure to comply with work practice standards.
Property owners and tenants have been notified by mail that any occupied rental units must be reinspected. Three children are known to have tested positive for elevated lead levels at affected properties.
“We are reaching out to rental property owners and their tenants to be sure that families are protected from the serious health hazards of lead paint,” said Maryland Department of the Environment Secretary Serena McIlwain. “Most inspectors do their jobs well and are vital to preventing childhood lead poisoning, but those who fail to follow the law endanger the heath and well-being of unsuspecting and vulnerable people. Parents of children residing at these properties should contact their child’s pediatrician or primary care physician to get tested.”
Lead can harm a child’s brain, causing lifelong learning and behavior problems. In Maryland, rental homes built before 1978 are assumed to contain lead paint and must pass safety inspections. The Lead Poisoning Prevention Program monitors contractors and inspectors and compliance. More information for parents is available on our website.
Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown, on behalf of the Department of the Environment, has filed a complaint in Baltimore City Circuit Court against Green Environmental, LLC and its owner, Rodney Bryan Barkley, for multiple violations related to lead paint inspection practices and improper use of a lead detection device that uses radioactive materials. That case is ongoing.
The Office of the Attorney General’s Environmental and Natural Resources Crimes Unit has filed criminal charges in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City against Barkley for violations of Maryland environmental laws related to the falsification and submission of lead paint certificates.
A criminal information is merely an accusation of wrongdoing, and each defendant is presumed innocent until the state proves the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
A full list of the affected properties is here.
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