The Maryland Department of the Environment is invalidating more than 1,400 lead inspection certificates across the state, requiring any tenant-occupied rental properties to be reinspected for lead paint hazards due to an inspector’s failure to comply with work practice standards.
Property owners and tenants have been notified by mail that any occupied rental units must be reinspected.
Three children are known to have tested positive for elevated lead levels at affected properties.
“We are reaching out to rental property owners and their tenants to be sure that families are protected from the serious health hazards of lead paint,” said Maryland Department of the Environment Secretary Serena McIlwain. “Most inspectors do their jobs well and are vital to preventing childhood lead poisoning, but those who fail to follow the law endanger the heath and well-being of unsuspecting and vulnerable people. Parents of children residing at these properties should contact their child’s pediatrician or primary care physician to get tested.”
Lead can harm a child’s brain, causing lifelong learning and behavior problems. In Maryland, rental homes built before 1978 are assumed to contain lead paint and must pass safety inspections.
The Lead Poisoning Prevention Program monitors contractors and inspectors and compliance. More information for parents is available on our website.
Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown, on behalf of the Department of the Environment, has filed a complaint in Baltimore City Circuit Court against Green Environmental, LLC and its owner, Rodney Bryan Barkley, for multiple violations related to lead paint inspection practices and improper use of a lead detection device that uses radioactive materials.
The Green Environmental website states “We are a small black-owned business located in Baltimore City that provides a range of testing services for lead-based paint. Our families have personally experienced the negative impacts of lead poisoning, so we are personally invested and deeply committed to improving the safety outcomes of Maryland’s children and families, particularly the black and brown communities who are most effected by exposure to lead.”
That case is ongoing. As of July 2025, Barkley has been charged with the following.
- FALSE/ALTER PERMIT (15 counts)
- POSS/DISPLAY FALSE/ALTERED PERMIT (15 counts)
- RECEIVING, POSSESSING, USING, OWNING, ACQUIRING A RADIATION MACHINE WITHOUT OBTAINING A LICENSE
The Office of the Attorney General’s Environmental and Natural Resources Crimes Unit has filed criminal charges in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City against Barkley for violations of Maryland environmental laws related to the falsification and submission of lead paint certificates.
A criminal information is merely an accusation of wrongdoing, and each defendant is presumed innocent until the state proves the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
A full list of the affected properties is here. Some local structures are listed below.
- Certificate 915907 – 19099 Three Notch Rd, Unit: 19099:SFP, Lexington Park, MD 20653
- Certificate 915936 – 19099 Three Notch Rd, Unit: 19099:SFP, Lexington Park, MD 20653
- Certificate 774677 – 1550 Coster Rd, Unit: SFP, Lusby, MD 20657
- Certificate 880978 – 2905 Sandwich Dr Waldorf, MD 20601
- Certificate 888966 – 41 Pagnell Cir Waldorf, MD 20602
- Certificate 870543 – 504 Adams Ln Waldorf, MD 20602
- Certificate 766536 – 21 Walnut Hill Rd, Unit: B, La Plata, MD
- Certificate 1040300 – 4160 Park Ave White Plains, MD 20695
- Certificate 774672 – 1629 Addison Rd, District Heights, MD 20747
- Certificate 853650 – 29781 Oak Rd Mechanicsville, MD 20659
- Certificate 870505 – 29868 Coolidge Dr Unit: 29868:SFP Mechanicsville, MD 20659
- Certificate 766548 – 3013 Ashwood Dr Unit: SFP Dunkirk, MD 20754
- Certificate 846876 – 4346 Bayside Rd Chesapeake Beach, MD 20732
- Certificate 915910 – 48186 Mulberry Ln, Unit: 48186:SFP, St Inigoes, MD 20684
- Certificate 915935 – 48186 Mulberry Ln, Unit: 48186:SFP, St Inigoes, MD 20684
- Certificate 846873 – 5030 Fable St Capitol Heights, MD 20743
- Certificate 948509 – 10101 Prince Pl, Unit:10101:104 Largo
- Certificate 809737 – 10105 Prince Pl Unit: 104 Largo
- Certificate 846878 – 10215 Livingston Rd Fort Washington, MD 20744
- Certificate 915916 – 10215 Livingston Rd, Unit: 10215:SFP, Fort Washington
- Certificate 888998 – 3447 Donnell Dr Unit: ALL BUILDINGS & UNITS District Heights, MD 20747
