LEWISTON – The owners of seven Lewiston apartments are the target of a civil complaint by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, which says the landlords failed to tell renters of the risks of lead paint exposure.

The EPA’s proposed penalties total more than $53,000.

The complaint follows a state inspection of a Horton Street apartment performed almost four years ago, in December 2000. Small children, 1 and 2 years old, were found to have elevated levels of lead in their bodies.

After that, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development investigated. Then, the EPA was told.

Since 1996, landlords of all homes built before 1978 are required to give warnings to renters and buyers. Also, if they know lead is there, they have to say so.

In at least six of the seven cases, all in downtown Lewiston, it appears that the property manager was unaware of the federal rules, said Gregory Dain, an attorney for the EPA.

The complaints were issued against Atlantic Holdings LLC, which owned six of the apartments, and Pier Properties Inc., which owned one. According to city assessors, the companies share the same Portland address: 50 Portland Pier, Suite 400. That’s also the home of Atlantic National Trust.

People at Atlantic National Trust declined to comment on the EPA complaint.

“There’s a complicated interrelationship among these parties,” said Dain. “Frankly, I think they are the same people.”

A single lawyer representing both Atlantic Holdings and Pier Properties has contacted the EPA, Dain said.

The proposed penalty, $53,240 to be exact, was arrived at through a detailed scale, which is weighted against landlords who rent to high-risk groups, such as young children. The EPA complaint has been filed in Boston with an administrative law judge.

“Ninety-nine percent of our cases settle,” Dain said. All have the right to a hearing.

The Lewiston case is one that the environmental watchdog is proud to prosecute.

“This case shows that we’re serious about making sure renters and buyers get the information they need to protect themselves and their children from lead paint,” said Robert Varney, the EPA’s regional director, in a prepared statement.

“Lead poisoning is a very serious public health threat in New England, especially in cities such as Lewiston, where apartment buildings and houses tend to be older,” Varney said.