A Price on Poison: Sciarappa Construction’s Disregard for Child Safety

For over a year, Sciarappa Construction Company, an Ohio corporation, performed renovations on a dozen older homes across the state. These weren’t just construction jobs; they were operations in environments known to harbor a potent neurotoxin: lead. Federal law has strict protocols for this kind of work, designed specifically to prevent the poisoning of children. Sciarappa Construction ignored them. All of them. For every single job.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) caught up with them. The resulting legal document, docket number TSCA-05-2024-0017, lays out a stunning pattern of willful negligence. This is the story of how a company gambled with the neurological development of children for profit and convenience, and the price the system decided that risk was worth.

The Misconduct Ledger: Twelve Violations

The EPA’s investigation, which began with an on-site inspection in October 2021, uncovered 12 distinct renovation projects where Sciarappa Construction completely failed its legal and moral duties. The jobs, ranging from window replacements to full kitchen and bathroom remodels, took place in homes built as far back as 1890, all but guaranteeing the presence of lead-based paint.

These are the locations where the company failed to follow the law:

• 30006 Westlawn Drive, Bay Village, Ohio 44140 (Built 1952)
• 24732 Framingham Drive, Westlake, Ohio 44145 (Built 1976)
• 5037 Pershing Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44127 (Built 1890)
• 24303 East Oakland Road, Bay Village, Ohio 44140 (Built 1950)
• 596 Irving Park Boulevard, Sheffield Lake, Ohio 44054 (Built 1954)
• 1205 West 44th Street, Unit 3, Lorain, Ohio 44053 (Built 1963)
• 226 Belmar Boulevard, Avon Lake, Ohio 44012 (Built 1957)
• 20590 Morewood Parkway, Rocky River, Ohio 44116 (Built 1928)
• 611 Avon Belden Road, Avon Lake, Ohio 44012 (Built 1960)
• 20934 Lake Road, Rocky River, Ohio 44116 (Built 1955)
• 139 Clinton Avenue, Elyria, Ohio 44035 (Built 1900)
• 20830 Stratford Avenue, Rocky River, Ohio 44116 (Built 1937)

For every one of these projects, Sciarappa failed to document that a certified renovator was assigned, failed to document that proper work practices were followed, failed to document worker training, and failed to provide homeowners with the EPA’s lead hazard information pamphlet. They kept no records. There is no proof any safety measures were ever taken.

The Non-Financial Ledger

Profit and loss statements never account for the real cost of this kind of corporate misconduct. The rules Sciarappa Construction broke exist for one reason: to prevent irreversible brain damage in children. The EPA document cites Congress’s own findings on the matter. Even low-level lead poisoning is a catastrophe for a developing child.

When a company disturbs lead paint without proper containment, it releases invisible toxic dust that settles on floors, toys, and furniture. A child crawling on the floor can easily ingest this dust. The damage is permanent. This is what Sciarappa Construction chose to risk, 12 times over, to avoid the cost and hassle of proper training and paperwork.

Legal Receipts

The EPA’s complaint outlines a total failure to comply with the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The violations are not minor technicalities; they represent a complete breakdown of the safety system.

For each renovation project described in paragraph 25, Respondent failed to retain and make available to EPA all records necessary to demonstrate compliance with Subpart E for a period of three years following completion of the renovations…

COUNT ONE – 40 C.F.R. § 745.86(a)

For each renovation project described in Paragraph 25, Respondent failed to ensure that a certified renovator was assigned to each renovation performed by the firm and that this certified renovator discharged all of the certified renovator’s responsibilities…

COUNT EIGHT – 40 C.F.R. § 745.89(d)(2)

For each renovation project described in Paragraph 25, above, Respondent failed to provide the owner of the unit with the EPA-approved lead hazard information pamphlet…

COUNT SEVEN – 40 C.F.R. § 745.84(a)(1)

Societal Impact Mapping: Public Health

The entire regulatory framework around lead-based paint is a public health measure. Congress acted because the ingestion of household dust containing lead is the single most common cause of lead poisoning in children. Renovations are a primary vector for creating this dust. Sciarappa’s actions directly threatened the health of families in twelve different communities. By failing to use certified renovators, they guaranteed that the people disturbing the toxic paint had no verified training in how to do so safely. By failing to provide the informational pamphlet, they denied families the knowledge they needed to protect themselves and recognize the danger.

After being caught with a complete absence of compliance records for twelve separate projects, and after the EPA “conducted an analysis of Respondent’s financial information and determined Respondent has a limited ability to pay,” the agreed-upon civil penalty was $25,000. That amounts to just over $2,000 per household put at risk. This is the price tag the system places on a corporation’s choice to ignore fundamental public health protections.

What Now?

While Sciarappa Construction has been fined, the system that allows such behavior to be cheaply settled remains. Accountability requires sustained public pressure.

Corporate Leadership

• John Sciarappa, President: The individual who signed the consent agreement, acknowledging the company’s actions.

Regulatory Watchlist

• EPA Region 5: The agency responsible for this enforcement action. Their resources dictate how many companies like this are caught. Public support for robust environmental enforcement is crucial.

Your Power

Federal fines are a distant affair. Real power lies in community defense. Support local tenants’ rights organizations that fight for safe housing. Donate to or volunteer with mutual aid networks that help families deal with health crises and housing insecurity. Demand stronger local ordinances for contractor licensing and public health inspections. The regulations only work when they are enforced, and enforcement only happens when people demand it.