By John Kiesewetter
The Cincinnati Enquirer

LIBERTY TWP. - Ryland Homes has filed a federal lawsuit against the developers and environmental engineers for lead-contaminated Lexington Manor, charging that they lied about the land that was declared a U.S. EPA Superfund site last year.

The California-based home builder seeks to recover costs for the multimillion-dollar hazardous-waste cleanup under way at the 26-acre subdivision built on a 1960s skeet-shooting range. Up to 25,000 tons of soil could be removed by August in Greater Cincinnati's largest cleanup of residential lead contamination.

Ryland also asked for punitive damages, compensation for lost profits, damage to reputation, attorneys' fees and buying back 27 homes bought by customers there from 2001 to 2003. Only two families remain in the subdivision off Millikin Road in this booming Butler County township.

"We are extremely disappointed to have been put in a position of filing suit. However, we hope the lawsuit will finally put the financial responsibility where it belongs," said Winfield E. Ziegenfuss, regional vice president for Ryland Homes.

Named in the suit were developer Harry Thomas Jr. of Fairfield and his company, H.T. Investments; his employee, Deanna J. Ricciardi; and John L. Payne and Donald A. Fay of the Payne Firm Inc., a Blue Ash environmental engineering company. Thomas and Payne couldn't be reached for comment Thursday evening.

In the 37-page suit filed in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati, Ryland charged that the "inadequate, ineffective" cleanup efforts by the developer four years ago - before Ryland bought vacant lots - spread the metal shot pellets containing lead and arsenic to uncontaminated areas, putting "customers and their children at risk."

Ryland also accuses the developer and engineers of fraud and conspiracy for allegedly providing "false information" to the home builder.

Thomas had hired the Payne Firm in 2000, after a Ryland subcontractor found hazardous levels of lead. One sample was in excess of 51,000 parts per million, 127 times more than the federal standard of 400 parts per million for residential land, the suit said.

The developer had the land rototilled, and some of the tainted soil buried in a pit, the suit said. After testing the soil, the Payne Firm sent Thomas a letter Sept. 8, 2000, declaring "the property is suitable for residential development." A month later, Ryland bought the 46 lots and began to build 42 homes.

Two years passed before Ryland discovered that the hazardous lead had not been eliminated, the suit said. An environmental company, hired by a customer in October 2002, found lead concentrations over 10,000 parts per million on a Palomino Lane lot.

In early 2003, more tests were conducted, and homeowners sued Ryland. After the U.S. EPA declared it a Superfund site last year, the company agreed to buy back the new homes and to pay for all of the cleanup.

Although the company did not request a specific amount, Ryland is expected to spend well over $10 million on Lexington Manor. The company has paid $7.88 million reacquiring 27 homes, according to Butler County records. The cleanup that began in April is expected to cost another $2.5 million.

While the Lexington Manor soil removal continues, Ryland subcontractors have been repainting interiors and replacing carpet in the vacant houses. The homes will be put back on the market this fall, Ziegenfuss said.

E-mail jkiesewetter@enquirer.com