Family forced out of rental property due to lead levels
State declares Cleveland Street home ‘unsafe’By LEONARD GLENN CRIST
Article Photos
SALEM - The McMurray family will likely be kicked out of their rented Cleveland Street home later this week.
Not that parents Shawn and Merisa McMurray want to stay.
The rental house at 1175 Cleveland Street has been declared "unsafe for human occupation" by the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) due to lead hazards found in the home.
The McMurrays were alerted to the hazard after their 2-year-old daughter Skylar and 5-year-old son Colton were found to have lead poisoning. The McMurrays also have an 11-year-old daughter, Brittanee, and a 3-week-old son, Spencer.
Lead exposure in children under 6 years old has been found to cause decreased intelligence and other developmental problems.
In March, ODH performed extensive lead testing in the house and found lead contamination in most of the door jambs and window jambs, on the front porch, in the garage, in the basement and in the bathroom.
"The state of Ohio came out here and tested everything in this house, from top to bottom," Merisa McMurray said. "It's in the windowsills, it's in the carpet, it's all in the bathroom, basement, it's everywhere."
The rental home is owned by George Thomas, who has not responded to orders from ODH to remediate the lead hazard. Because of this, ODH has ordered the house be vacated by July 3.
The McMurrays claim Thomas has ignored their phone calls and has generally shown a lack of concern despite the fact that Thomas lives in an East State Street home directly across from the rental property.
After Skylar and Colton were found to have lead poisoning, Merisa McMurray contacted Thomas, she said.
"I informed the landlord and he refused to do anything," she said.
Messages left Monday for both Thomas and his attorney, K. Bret Apple, were unreturned by late Monday night.
Shawn McMurray plans to attend Salem's city council meeting today to discuss enacting housing codes that can protect renters from such lead hazards. Shawn said he wants to raise awareness of the dangers of lead exposure.
The rental home
The McMurrays pay $500 a month to rent the house, Shawn said. They have lived there for about one year, moving to Salem from Texas.
Shawn is a truck driver. Merisa works in the portrait studio at Wal-Mart.
The house, a single family, two-story home, was built in 1920. The home is valued at $64,400 and was purchased by Thomas in 2001, according to records from the Columbiana County Auditor's Web site.
Thomas owns four homes in Salem and a property on Pine Lake Road in Perry Township, according to auditor's records.
"[Thomas] won't even talk to us," Shawn said. "Actually, he called the other day. It was the first time we heard from him in four months. He lives right behind us. That's the sad thing about it, knowing there's children up here with high levels of poison in them. He's not doing nothing about it. That's just sickening."
On April 18, Dr. Alvin Jackson, ODH's director of health, sent Thomas an "order to control lead hazards," which stated he was "hereby ordered to use a licensed lead abatement contractor to control the lead hazards" at 1175 Cleveland Street.
"Lead hazards were found which are contributing, in whole or in part, to a child's lead poisoning," Jackson wrote.
That same day, ODH provided the McMurrays with a list of steps they could take to reduce their children's lead exposure until the lead hazards in the home were controlled. ODH recommended frequently washing windowsills, window troughs and floors; vacuuming debris and dust with a HEPA vacuum; regularly washing their children's hands, clothes and toys; and giving their children a diet high in calcium and iron.
The McMurrays said they have done everything the state recommends to reduce lead exposure.
On May 7, Atty. Apple sent a letter on behalf of Thomas, which stated Thomas was "taking all necessary steps" as required by the state to "remedy the problems with the property." Should the McMurrays decide to move, Thomas "would certainly understand and not contractually hold" the family to "any further obligations."
"However, should you wish to remain at the property, you will need to keep your rent current," the letter concluded.
The McMurrays said they have paid their rent every month except this month, because they are being forced to move and Thomas has a $500 deposit of theirs.
On June 2, more than two months after ODH declared the house a hazard, Apple sent another letter to the McMurrays, which contained the following text: "In an attempt to protect the children from the current lead hazard in the home, I would suggest the following actions: keep children away from the windows and use the back porch rather than the front entrance. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter."
The McMurrays said they had long since taken steps to decrease the potential lead exposure.
On June 20, ODH's Jackson sent Thomas a "notice of noncompliance and order to vacate" the property. Jackson wrote, "On April 18, 2008, you were ordered to control the lead hazards identified at this property. As of this date, the Ohio Department of Health has not received evidence that the controls have been implemented."
The property must be vacated by July 3, Jackson wrote. At that point, "The Ohio Department of Health will post a sign on one or more entrances to serve as a warning to the public that the property is unsafe for human occupation."
The order will remain in effect until the lead hazards have been controlled, an examination has been passed and a written notice of compliance has been received by Thomas, Jackson wrote.
The McMurrays said they have contacted the offices of Salem Mayor Jerry Wolford and state Senator Jason Wilson about the lead contamination. Messages left Monday for Wolford and Wilson were not returned by late Monday night.
Patrick Morrissey, Salem's director of housing, planning and zoning, confirmed the mayor's office has been notified of the McMurray's lead contamination but said he did not know many other details.
"My understanding is these people have contacted [ODH] and [ODH] has come in and done a test and then [ODH] issued them an order to vacate the premises," Morrissey said. "And my understanding is they have not obeyed that order, that they are still in the premises. I don't know any more about that, other than the fact that we did receive copies of that via e-mail. The mayor's office got that info."
Morrissey said his housing inspectors are not qualified to deal with issues of lead exposure.
On the county level, Columbiana County has not offered a lead abatement program since the mid-1990s, said Bob Morehead, the county health commissioner. All matters regarding lead abatement and exposure are referred to ODH, Morehead said.
Morrissey said he didn't know of any lead contamination issues relating to any of Thomas' other properties.
"We all probably grew up with lead," Morrissey said. "This became an issue, I guess, with these people."
Shawn McMurray objected to that comment.
"Who cares when he was a kid?" McMurray asked. "That don't matter no more. He needs to quit living in the past and live in the future. If he wants to be a building and zoning inspector, he has to go by laws today, not when he was a kid. And he needs to find a new job if that's the way he thinks."
Lead dangers
Lead exposure is most harmful to children under the age of 6 because lead is easily absorbed into growing bodies, according to an Ohio Department of Health fact sheet. Lead was used in house paint until 1978. Exposure can be caused by ingesting lead-based paint chips or inhaling dust from ground paint chips.
"At lower exposure levels, lead poisoning in young children is associated with decreased intelligence, delayed growth, impaired hearing, attention deficit disorders and hyperactivity in later years," the fact sheet states. "At higher levels of exposure, lead poisoning can cause mental retardation, convulsions, coma and death."
Lead is also dangerous to developing fetuses if the expectant mother has been exposed, according to the fact sheet.
Blood lead levels as low as 10 ug/dL (ug/dL is a measurement tool which means micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood) do not cause distinctive symptoms but are associated with decreased intelligence, impaired neurobehavioral development and decreased stature or growth, according to ODH. Children with blood lead levels above 45 ug/dL require immediate medical attention.
Between 1999 and 2006, 15 children in Columbiana County have been determined to have blood lead levels of 25 ug/dL or more, according to ODH statistics. Another 197 children in Columbiana County during that same time period were found to have elevated blood lead levels between 10 and 24 ug/dL.
Skylar's most recent screening revealed a blood lead level of 34 ug/dL, Merisa McMurray said. Skylar's first test, in early March, revealed blood lead levels of 30 ug/dL, which means the problem is worsening, Merisa said. Skylar was scheduled to have another screening performed today.
Colton's first blood level test revealed a blood lead level of 20 ug/dL, but his most recent test found only 5 ug/dL, she said.
There are no treatments available for Skylar's lead poisoning, Merisa said. The McMurrays thought about detoxing her and flushing the lead out of her system, but doctors said Skylar was too young and such actions could harm her.
The family does not yet know where they will go once they are removed from the home. Shawn McMurray said they have been looking at the many rental properties in Salem, but all the ones they have looked at were built before 1978 and none had ever been inspected for lead.
"I can't afford to put my children back in that situation," he said. "It's not a chance worth taking."
"We want to leave," he added.
Leonard Glenn Crist can be reached at lcrist@salemnews.net
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beckyRN
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07-01-08 3:53 PM
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Mr. Morrissey's comment about lead becoming an issue with "these people" sounds completely uneducated and ignorant. How can you be a housing director and NOT know the dangers of lead exposure?!? This did not just become an issue with "these people", where has he been the past 30 years since they stopped making lead based paint? Has he not seen all the recent news reports of thousands of toy recalls due to high levels of lead found in the paint? I am glad that the Mcmurray family is speaking out about this issue and helping to raise awareness in the community about the dangers of lead exposure. Hopefully now more people will realize that this is a very serious issue and take action to prevent lead poisoning in our children.
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kristiwright
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07-01-08 8:36 AM
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recently a house at 888 prospect has become available. we purchased it in 2003, inspected and passed due to us having an infant too.
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