N.H. firm fined in lead rule violation

N.H. Plate Glass settles with EPA in Kittery school renovation

A Portsmouth-based subcontractor hired to perform a window renovation project at the former Frisbee School in Kittery, Maine, and the Massachusetts-based general contractor hired to oversee the renovation have agreed to pay fines after being accused of violating lead paint removal regulations.

Under two settlements with the Environmental Protection Agency, New Hampshire Plate Glass Corp. of Portsmouth will pay a fine of $10,890 for allegedly violating EPA’s renovation, repair and painting rule.

James J. Welch & Co. Inc., based in Salem, Mass., will pay a penalty of $3,565.

EPA alleged that the violations occurred during work to convert the former school into a community center for which JJ Welch was the primary contractor and New Hampshire Plate Glass was a subcontractor.

The new Kittery Community Center was designed to include day care programs and was thus considered a child-occupied facility under federal regulations. Lead-based paint was present in storm windows that New Hampshire Plate Glass removed during the renovation.

Based on the inspection, EPA determined that New Hampshire Glass had not complied with the required work practice requirements of the rule, including failure to assign a certified renovator to the worksite, failure to cover the ground with plastic sheeting and failure to contain waste from the renovation activity.

As the general contractor, JJ Welch failed to comply with its responsibility to ensure that those requirements were met, the EPA said.

The agency said the violations were brought to its attention via an anonymous tip.