The owners of the North Baltimore broadcast tower that in 2022 showered homes, yards and playgrounds with hazardous lead paint flakes knew in 2012 – a decade earlier – that the structure contained lead-based paint.

The original scope of work for the repainting of the approximately 1,000-foot tower described “scraping, sanding and wire brushing flaking paint” and included application of “a lead neutralizer.”

But Television Tower, Inc. (TTI), a company owned and managed by three television stations (WBAL, WJZ and WMAR), hired a company, Skyline Tower Painting, Inc., that was not accredited to do such work in Maryland.

That was just one of the disclosures that emerged today as Maryland officials announced a $2.2 million settlement and consent decree against TTI and Nebraska-based Skyline.

The settlement resolves a civil lawsuit filed by the Office of the Attorney General on behalf of Maryland Department of Environment (MDE).

The civil case settlement follows separate guilty pleas entered in December by Skyline on criminal environmental charges filed by the Attorney General’s Environmental and Natural Resources Crimes Unit.

In the case settled today, the state alleged that Skyline removed lead paint from the Tower by scraping and forceful power washing with no controls or containment to prevent the spreading of lead-based paint chips in the surrounding neighborhoods such as Woodberry.

The complaint further alleged that the work, conducted at the 3723 Malden Avenue location between May 28 and June 21, 2022, caused lead paint chips and debris to spread as far as half a mile away.

The Brew first reported the appearance of the chips, which caused panic in the surrounding neighborhoods.

• Residents in Woodberry alarmed after paint flakes from TV tower rain down on yards and streets (6/21/22)

“Our expectation is clear: work that risks public health must be done safely and in full compliance with the law. That did not happen here,” Attorney General Anthony Brown said today in a release announcing the settlement.

Lead paint, through ingested dust or chips, poses severe health risks, especially to children, including brain damage and developmental delays.

Company Banned in Maryland

Under the settlement filed in Baltimore Circuit Court and in accordance with the Consent Decree, TTI has agreed to:

• Complete all tower repainting work using proper containment systems and accredited contractors by June 30.

• Conduct a final cleanup and inspection of the surrounding area upon completion of repainting, followed by three months of monitoring and response to any community complaints of paint flakes.

• Repeat a soil sampling study to confirm no increase in lead soil levels attributable to tower flakes since MDE’s 2023 study.

The release from Brown’s office also said that Skyline will permanently cease all lead abatement, painting and surface remediation work in Maryland – with the company and its principals also prohibited from forming or controlling any company offering such services in the state.

Under the settlement, the two companies will enter a consent decree and agree to pay $1.1 million into the state’s Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, $660,000 to the Clean Water Fund and $440,000 to the State Hazardous Substance Control Fund.

According to the settlement document, TTI has retained a new repainting contractor using a custom-designed containment system and the project is ongoing.

TTI is to maintain a point of contact for the public which can be contacted by email at televisiontowerinc@gmail.com or by phone at 410-429-0218.

28th Street Bridge

Meanwhile, not far from the tower, the city-owned 28th Street Bridge has been found to be dropping lead paint flakes onto Falls Road, the Jones Falls Trail and the Jones Falls waterway.

Following a report in The Brew, MDE inspectors found paint chips “ranging from large flakes approximately 10 inches across to tiny chips too numerous to count” in the stream and the grounds below the bridge near 2701 and 2801 Falls Road.

Subsequently, three other bridges in Maryland – two of them in Baltimore and one in Baltimore County – were confirmed to also be shedding lead-paint chips on the areas below.

• Paint flakes falling from the 28th Street Bridge contain lead and are hazardous, MDE says (2/20/26)