LEWISTON — The Environmental Protection Agency has filed complaints against seven Lewiston companies owned by developer Travis Soule, and against another company owned by developers Lee Griswold and Steve Griswold.

The complaints, charging the developers with not adequately disclosing the presence of lead paint in buildings they manage, could result in as much as $715,400 in fines, collectively.

The enforcement action is among the first cases brought by the EPA in Maine under the federal Lead Disclosure Rule contained in the Toxic Substances Control Act. The law requires owners and managers to tell potential buyers and tenants about the presence of lead-based paint in offices and housing, or even the possibility of lead paint being present in any building constructed before 1978.

According to the EPA complaints, filed by the agency’s Boston office, the Griswold and Soule companies failed to alert tenants in the apartments they manage that lead paint was or could have been present at apartments where they knew young children were living.

The complaint filed against Soule, specifically against his Landmark Real Estate Management company, Solo Affordable Housing Solutions, Solo Development, Minbar Properties, 87 Bartlett Street Associates, LA Italian Properties and Travis Soule dba Fish Properties, alleges 51 violations of federal law.

According to EPA attorney Amanda Helwig, Soule’s properties were inspected in 2004 and re-inspected in 2008 based on violations first identified in 2004. Since that first inspection, three lead abatement orders were imposed by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services on Soule properties, Helwig said, because of elevated lead levels found in children living there.

The first was in 2006 at 118 Bartlett St., in apartment No. 2, where a family with one child lived. The second was in 2007 at 54 Knox St., apartment No. 2, where elevated blood levels were found in at least one child living there; the third order was issued in 2008 in response to elevated blood levels found in children living in apartments at 118 Bartlett St. and 120 Bartlett St.

Soule is accused, among other things, of entering into a lease agreement with a woman in 2007 for the Bartlett Street apartment that was the subject of the 2004 abatement order, and failing to tell the woman about the presence of lead paint.

In all, the EPA alleges Soule failed to notify tenants in apartments where at least 23 children lived, ages from infant to 14 years, about the presence of lead paint. And, in one case, one of the apartments was rented by a woman who was pregnant and had children ages 5, 8 and 9.

In addition, Soule is alleged to have failed to notify dozens of other tenants that lead-based paint or lead-based paint hazards were present or could be present in their apartments. Federal law is very precise on what that notification must entail, including notice in a rental or purchase agreement and a U.S. government-approved pamphlet detailing the dangers of exposure to lead be given to tenants or buyers.

According to Helwig, Soule could face fines of up to $11,000 for each of the 51 alleged violations.

Of Soule’s seven companies included in the EPA complaint, only one remains in good standing with Maine’s Secretary of State: 87 Bartlett Street Associates. A call to attorney Ron Bissonnette, the registered agent for that corporation, was not returned.

The remaining companies have been administratively dissolved by the state for failure to file required annual reports. That, Helwig said, might limit the amount of damages the EPA is able to recover.

The Griswolds

In the case of the complaint against the Griswolds and their management company, PropSys Management, EPA attorney Bill Chin said the agency is alleging that “for several of their leases in 2007 and 2008, they had failed to provide notification regarding lead paint on the properties prior to leasing” those properties.

PropSys, which manages residential and commercial real estate, according to Lee Griswold, does not own any of the properties it manages.

Griswold was unaware of the EPA action until contacted by the Sun Journal on Wednesday. He preferred not to comment on the allegations until after he spoke with EPA officials.

According to the complaint naming PropSys Management, the management company failed to notify residents of the actual presence or the possibility of the presence of lead-based paint in two apartments at CentreVille Commons in 2003, two at Washburn Apartments from 2004 to 2007, two at Maple Knoll Apartments in 2000 and four apartments at Pleasant View Acres in 2000 and again in 2007.

In the PropSys case, there were 10 lease agreements involved, with multiple violations on each lease, he said.

Exposure to lead paint continues to be a problem in New England because so much of the housing stock was built earlier than 1978, said Ira Leighton, acting regional administrator of EPA’s New England office.

“Helping parents understand the risk of lead in older homes means protecting kids from lifelong harm,” he said. Health problems can include learning disabilities, impaired hearing, reduced attention span and behavioral problems, among other things.

Chin was not aware of any tenant renting an apartment managed by PropSys suffering from lead poisoning or any other lead-related illness. In fact, PropSys “seemed to be very responsive in taking care of any lead paint problems that cropped up on their properties,” Chin said. “The problem, though, even though you take care of those problems, you are still required under the law to notify prospective tenants that there is still lead paint on the property.”

In both the Soule and Griswold cases, the defendants have 30 days to answer the complaints or they could be found in default. The cases are heard by the EPA, not the court system, and Chin and Helwig said every effort would be made to settle with defendants before fines are imposed. If settlement agreements cannot be reached, or the defendants default, any fines imposed are paid to the U.S. Treasury and not to individuals who may have been harmed.

In addition to this recent EPA complaint, Soule is under federal investigation for misuse of federal housing money, and is subject to a default order in Androscoggin Count Superior Court to repay $4 million in loans from Casco Bay Finance Company LLC of Portland for unpaid mortgages on more than a dozen downtown Lewiston buildings. In addition, Soule is facing a lawsuit filed in Cumberland County Superior Court by his former business partner charging misuse of company funds.