At sentencing yesterday, the State of Maryland requested a $100,000 fine, but the court reduced it to $50,000. Lead-based paint chips were found throughout homeowners’ yards.
Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown has announced that Skyline Tower Painting, Inc. of Colorado and its President, Christopher Mecklem, 43, of Scottsbluff, Nebraska, each pleaded guilty to criminal violations of Maryland’s environmental laws for the illegal dispersal and disposal of lead-containing paint in Baltimore City in June 2022. The investigation was led by the Attorney General’s Environmental and Natural Resources Crimes Unit (ENRCU).
Although a complete mapping has not been made of where the lead-based paint chips could have fallen, neighbors have identified locations at least 1,000-feet from the 997-foot tower. Winds during the weeks when Skyline was painting peaked at 15mph; however, they could have been higher since weather equipment is typically at 33-feet above ground level.
The facts in support of the guilty pleas established that between May 28, 2022, and June 21, 2022, Skyline worked on the candelabra television tower, known as the 888’ triple candelabra tower, located at 3723 Malden Avenue in Baltimore City, Maryland. The tower is owned and operated by Television Tower, Inc. (TTI), a company owned and managed by three Baltimore-area television stations: WBAL, WJZ, and WMAR. The television tower is situated in a mixed residential and commercial neighborhood, approximately 400 yards from the Jones Falls River.
On or about June 5, 2022, Skyline used power washers to remove the existing lead-containing paint. At the direction of Mecklem, Skyline employees scraped and power washed the tower without using containment measures or vacuums. Videos and photographs taken by nearby residents showed that they were not using any containment or collection mechanism to collect the waste being generated. During that time period, red paint chips generated from the work were dropped onto residential neighborhoods, businesses, roadways, forested areas, playgrounds, a community garden, and a daycare within an approximate one-half mile radius of the tower.
“These reckless actions exposed children to dangerous lead paint chips, contaminating Baltimore playgrounds, yards, and even a daycare center,” said Brown.. “These guilty pleas send a clear message that we will prosecute those who endanger our communities and environment.”
The Attorney General’s ENRCU immediately began an investigation, including interviews with residents and the documentation and recovery of discarded paint chips. ENRCU investigators canvassed the area surrounding the tower. The area is adjacent to the Jones Falls River, and the storm drains discharge directly into it. They collected paint chips from residential yards, roadways, gutters and storm drains, a community garden, and surrounding wooded areas to obtain a representative sample of paint chips discharged from the tower project.
ENRCU investigators took the samples to a laboratory for Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) analysis, which simulates how materials break down and react in landfills. All heavy metals, including lead (Pb), may be classified as controlled hazardous materials depending upon the level of metal concentration. Two samples were tested and returned lead concentrations of 19.6 mg/L and 6.2 mg/L. The threshold limit for hazardous material determination is 5.0 mg/L. As such, the waste discharged from the repainting project by Skyline was a controlled hazardous substance under Maryland law.
Both Skyline Tower Painting and Mecklem pleaded guilty yesterday before the Honorable Jeannie J. Hong of the Circuit Court for Baltimore City. Mecklem pleaded guilty to two counts of improperly handling solid waste and two counts of discharging a pollutant to the waters of the State of Maryland. At sentencing, the State is requesting a one-year period of incarceration, all suspended, and a fine of $100,000, suspending all but $50,000 fine to the Maryland Clean Water Fund and three years of probation. The Court delayed sentencing to December 4, 2026 to allow the Defendant to pay the fine in advance.
The company pleaded guilty to one felony count of illegal disposal of a controlled hazardous substance. Sentencing was also held sub curia. At sentencing, the State is requesting a $100,000 fine, suspending all but $50,000, to the Maryland Hazardous Substance Control Fund, three years of probation and proof of revision of the company’s Standard Operating Procedures for lead paint projects, local permitting requirements, debris containment, and the lawful control and disposal of waste.
In a separate civil case announced in 2023 in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, the Maryland Department of the Environment brought a lawsuit against Skyline and TTI. That case remains pending with a trial date of March 2, 2026.
In making yesterday’s announcement, Brown thanked his Criminal Division, specifically Division Chief Katie Dorian, Environmental and Natural Resources Crimes Unit Chief D’Arcy B. Talley, and Senior Assistant Attorney General Kory H. Lemmert, who prosecuted these cases. Attorney General Brown also thanked ENRCU Chief Investigator Thomas Waugh and Investigator Ronald Weinreich, Jr. for their assistance with this investigation. Finally, Attorney General Brown thanked State’s Attorney for Baltimore City Ivan Bates for his assistance with this investigation and prosecution.
