Friday, September 20, 2002
The Garrettsville man had worked without a state license since 1996.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A Portage County man is out of the radon gas testing and abatement business.
As part of a settlement agreement in a lawsuit brought against him by the state, Raymond E. Sawyer of Garrettsville is barred from engaging in the business. He owned and operated Radon Detection and Mitigation Company.
The settlement was reached Thursday and was approved by Magistrate Gene Fehr of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
State sues
The Ohio Department of Health sued Sawyer in April 2001, saying he'd been working without a state-required license. According to court records, Sawyer was licensed to do radon work from January 1992 to January 1996, but he never renewed the license when it expired.
He was advised by letter in June 1995 that his license was about to expire. The state sent him another letter in January 1996 informing him that his license had lapsed and he could not longer perform radon work as a radon mitigation specialist.
In May 2000, Sawyer installed a radon mitigation system at a home on West Western Reserve Road, at the request of the homeowner, who had experienced a radon problem.
When the home was sold, the new owners, William and Brenda Veauthier, called Sawyer after they discovered excessive levels of radon in their home. He updated the system, but the problem persisted.
When an inspector from the Ohio Department of Health checked the home, he discovered more than a dozen deficiencies in the system Sawyer had installed, court records say.
Complaint lodged
Robert C. Angell, an assistant Ohio attorney general, said the Veauthiers lodged a complaint with the state health department, which is what prompted the investigation and subsequent legal action against Sawyer.
Neither Angell nor Atty. Robert J. Andrews Jr. of Cleveland, who represents Sawyer, would talk about specifics of the settlement agreement that they reached Thursday.
They said a detailed judgment entry will be filed, probably early next week.
bjackson@vindy.com