By John Kiesewetter
The Cincinnati Enquirer

LIBERTY TWP. - As one of the last families moves out of Lexington Manor subdivision this weekend, hazardous lead removal specialists are moving in to start Greater Cincinnati's largest clean-up of residential lead contamination.

Heavy equipment and air monitoring devices will be delivered next week, so excavation of up to 25 million tons of tainted soil around 32 new Ryland homes can start April 12.

Soil samples last year revealed hazardous lead levels - up to 10,000 parts per million - on the former skeet-shooting range. Federal standards consider concentrations of more than 400 parts per million as toxic.

Ryland repurchased the last of 27 houses Thursday. With the $303,006 to Glenn and Rita Grayson, the national home builder has spent $7.88 million on reacquiring homes constructed from 2001 and 2003. The cleanup is expected to cost Ryland an additional $2.5 million.

Only two families - a homeowner and a renter - will remain in the 42-home subdivision off Millikin Road, west of Ohio 747, during the four- to five-month dirt reclamation, said Winfred Ziegenfuss Jr., Ryland vice president for land operations.

Dallas-based Entact Inc., which has removed lead-contaminated soil from 800 residential properties, will begin by digging in yards west and north of Furlong Way, the subdivision's main street, he said. Lead deposits in some areas are 19 feet deep, according to soil tests conducted last year.

Soil will be piled - and processed - in the back yards of homes on the Back Tail Court and Palomino Lane cul-de-sacs, according to Ryland's work plan approved March 12 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Once the hazardous soil meets federal standards, it will be hauled to landfills in Hamilton or Montgomery counties, he said.

When tests determine that the yards are safe, new soil will be hauled in for the 32 houses, Ziegenfuss said.

Ryland, after being sued by homeowners last May, agreed to buy back the homes. Ryland signed an agreement in August with the federal government to pay for soil remediation. Details of the cleanup plan will be explained to the public 7-9 p.m. May 5 at the Liberty Township building, 6400 Princeton Road.

None of the two-story homes - ranging in value from $199,000 to $354,000 - will be demolished. But at least eight driveways will be torn up.

While Entact Inc. crews remove and replace the soil, Ryland contractors will repaint interiors and clean carpets in the vacant houses, Ziegenfuss said.

Ryland plans to put the homes back on the market this fall, if weather permits work to be completed in August.

"When we're done, the houses will be better than new," Ziegenfuss said.

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E-mail jkiesewetter@enquirer.com