By John Kiesewetter
The Cincinnati Enquirer

LIBERTY TWP. - Thirty-two lead-contaminated yards in Lexington Manor subdivision will be torn up starting next month under a plan approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Ryland Homes, which built 42 homes from 2001 to 2003 on a former skeet-shooting range, has promised to remove up to 25,000 tons of soil by fall.

The U.S. EPA declared the three-street subdivision off Millikin Road a Superfund cleanup site in May, after soil tests conducted by state and federal agencies.

Ryland, which did not develop the site or install streets, agreed in May to buy back the homes after being sued by homeowners. In August, Ryland signed an agreement with the federal government to pay for soil removal and replacement.

The biggest cleanup of residential lead contamination in Greater Cincinnati already has cost the national homebuilder $7.2-million to repurchase 25 homes. The company has two more homes to reacquire, in addition to an estimated $2.5 million in remediation costs.

None of the two-story homes - ranging in value from $199,000 to $354,000 - will be demolished, according to Ryland's cleanup plan. But at least eight driveways will be torn up, said Steve Renninger, U.S. EPA on-scene emergency response coordinator.

When the work is complete, Ryland will put the homes back on the market this fall, said Winfield Ziegenfuss Jr., Ryland vice president for land operations.

Excavations will range in depth from 6 inches to 19 feet, with many 4 feet deep, Ziegenfuss said last month. The most digging will be for the five "bury pits."

Dirt will be processed at the site, with the contamination hauled to either the Rumpke landfill in Colerain Township or the Stoney Hollow landfill in Montgomery County. The U.S. EPA has mandated 24-hour air monitoring during the work "to make sure the air quality doesn't impact on the health of the community," said Rafael Gonzales, U.S. EPA spokesman in Chicago.

Details of Ryland's remediation plans will be explained at a public meeting, 7-9 p.m. May 5 at the Liberty Township building, 6400 Princeton Road, Gonzales said.

The work will be done by Entact Inc., a Dallas-based company that has removed lead-contaminated soil from 800 residential properties, according to the company's Internet site.

Lexington Manor Inc. and Fairfield builder Harry Thomas Jr., who developed the property, are not participating in the remediation process or costs. Ryland and Lexington Manor Inc. had been assured in 2000 by The Payne Firm, a Blue Ash environmental consulting company, that the land was suitable for residential development.

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E-mail jkiesewetter@enquirer.com