By John Kiesewetter
The Cincinnati Enquirer

FAIRFIELD TWP. - In his 25 years on Mindy Drive, John Wise has never seen any lead pellets in his yard. And he's not about to let the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency look for any now.

"I'm not going to let them on my property. Nobody has ever had any problems here," says Wise, 70, one of 14 homeowners to receive letters asking permission for the state to drill for soil samples.

But Wise is in the minority in 30-year-old Brentwood Estates, west of Butler Tech (formerly D. Russel Lee Vocational School) on Millikin Road.

Eight of the 14 residents on Mindy and Elenor drives have authorized the state to take up to 20 samples, ranging from one to 12 inches deep, in early May.

Acting on an anonymous tip that the property was once a small skeet-shooting range, the Ohio EPA collected surface samples along the subdivision streets in January. The highest lead level found was 232 parts per million, well below the government standard (400 parts per million) as hazardous for residential areas, said Scott Glum, an environmental specialist and site coordinator for the Ohio EPA's southwestern district office in Dayton.

Most of the area tested registered 15 to 25 parts per million, he said. By comparison, as much as 10,000 parts per million of lead was found during testing at Ryland Homes' Lexington Manor subdivision one mile east. Ryland will start removing up to 25 million tons of contaminated soil next week from Lexington Manor, which was declared a U.S. EPA superfund cleanup site last May.Glum has said it's too early to tell "if there is a problem" at Brentwood Estates.

Wise and his neighbors said they're concerned about being stuck paying for removal and replacement of soil determined to be toxic.

"I'm not going to have my yard torn up and pay $3,000 or $4,000 to have it reseeded," said Terry Moore of Mindy Drive.

However, homeowners likely won't have to pay for remediation, based on lead problems at other subdivisions, Glum said. In most cases, the U.S. EPA has paid, he said. "We certainly don't consider an innocent property owner as the responsible party. We would contact the U.S. EPA, and get them involved," Glum said. "But there are no guarantees. Things can change."

Township Administrator Mike Rahall said he had never heard about a shooting range on the property until contacted by the Ohio EPA in January. Wise said he was told by a long-time resident the area may have been a shooting range in the 1940s. Darrell Saylers, who lives at Mindy Drive and Millikin Road, says he has found numerous shotgun shells when digging on his property. "I don't think they'll find any (lead)," Wise said. "It will amaze me if they do."

Until the tests are done, Glum recommends that Brentwood Estates residents always wash their hands after gardening or yard work, and not let pets track dirt into the house.

E-mail jkiesewetter@enquirer.com