FORT ATKINSON — A Jefferson County family is warning others about the dangers of lead paint in rental homes after both a father and his young son tested positive for elevated blood lead levels.
David Stotesbery thought he and his wife had found the perfect newly renovated rental home to raise their three young boys in their preferred school district of Fort Atkinson. But that perspective changed last year when their youngest son tested for elevated blood lead levels.
"I was terrified. It's heartbreaking when you see this," Stotesbery said.
David got tested too, wondering if recent health issues could be connected to lead exposure.
"The memory fog, the brain slowness, the headaches," he said.
That's when David learned he also had high lead levels in his blood.
"It's just been a nightmare. That's really what it's been is a nightmare," Stotesbery said.
Local and state health departments got involved and required a home inspection. The inspection report shows lead paint and dust was found in the dining room, bathrooms and bedrooms, among other areas.
"The upstairs bedrooms had the highest concentrations and specifically in the boys' bedrooms is where the lead dust was," Stotesbery said.
The inspection reports show lead dust was also suspected on every window sill.
"It was just mindblowing. When you're reading a report and it tells you that the dust levels are 93 times higher than the law allows. You look around this place and you don't even expect it," he said.
A letter from the Watertown Public Health Department shows the landlord was given 30 days warning to hire certified and licensed lead paint remediators to remove the hazard. The letter stated: "Failure to correct these conditions within 30 days will result in a referral to the District Attorney for civil or criminal penalties."
"After that expired and they weren't doing anything, I bought some of my own cleaning supplies. You've got to do what you've got to do to keep your family safe, but I don't know what I'm doing either and so I cleaned the house and I tried to clean up the lead and stuff like that and my levels go up," Stotesbery said.
Watch: Jefferson County family warns others about lead hazards in rental homes
David provided lab reports from early December that show his blood lead levels jumped to more than 10 times what the CDC considers to be lead poisoning.
"I was kicking up more of that dust," Stotesbery said.
UW-Milwaukee lead expert Amy Kalkbrenner says it's well known that children under the age of 5 are at the greatest risk of lifelong health impacts, but adults can be affected too.
"Lead is a harm, no matter the age. It's a metal that's not supposed to be in our body at all. It is a toxic metal. And so in adults, it might have cardiovascular consequences, consequences on high blood pressure," Kalkbrenner said.
The Stotesbery family claims their landlord never disclosed there was lead paint in the home before they moved in.
"No, not once. We found out she was supposed to give us a pamphlet from the EPA. She never gave us that. There was nothing in the lease about lead," Stotesbery said.
TMJ4 contacted the Stotesbery's now former landlord. Nellie Redenius answered and declined to do an on-camera interview. She told TMJ4 she was not aware of the lead hazards in this rental home until the inspection reports came back. She said: "Nothing was mentioned about lead until after they were given a 5-day notice to pay their rent."
Redenius's attorney then called to share they're required to have certified lead abatement contractors remediate the lead. The attorney said "my clients have been very diligent in updating the health department about all steps that they're taking."
During this process, court records show Redenius took the Stotesbery family to eviction court for failure to pay their full rent and won. David says they fell behind when he quit working due to health issues.
The Stotesbery family was forced to move out in late December and is now searching for permanent housing that won't have lead paint.
"We just hope no other family has to go through what we went through. And deal with a situation like this," Stotesbery said. "The biggest thing we learned is if the house is built before 1978, assume it's got lead. You just have to assume."
"It's scary when you realize your house is poisoning you," he said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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