University Study Finds Inspection Gaps and Post‑occupancy Deterioration in H‑2A Housing on Eastern Shore
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Summary
A multi‑year study (RespiraR) presented to the Economic Matters Committee found widespread post‑occupancy deterioration, water quality concerns, and inconsistent DOL preoccupancy inspection practices across Eastern Shore H‑2A housing sites, and recommended digitized, random and post‑occupancy inspections.
Dr. Devin Payne Sturgess, principal investigator for RespiraR and professor of environmental health sciences (University of Michigan; formerly University of Maryland), presented preliminary results from field work and an analysis of Maryland Department of Labor housing inspection records that together document recurring health risks and gaps in inspection practice.
Sturgess said the RespiraR study enrolled 135 participants at 14 unique farmworker housing locations across seven Eastern Shore counties during the 2023–24 seasons. "Nearly 78 percent [of participants] were employed through the H‑2A program," he said; most participants were male (90%) and many return year after year to the same employer.
Field observations included filthy, mold‑covered showers, limited laundry access, makeshift wiring, overflowing garbage, broken window screens and metal roofs that make bathrooms unbearably hot. Sturgess and his team analyzed 188 Maryland DOL preoccupancy inspection reports from 73 unique H‑2A housing sites and found that 78% of reports received approval even though 38% of those reports contained items that did not meet ETA criteria as noted by inspectors. He also flagged cases in which water tests— including nitrate levels above the U.S. EPA maximum contaminant level—received no documented follow up.
Sturgess criticized the current reliance on preoccupancy inspections alone and recommended modernizing and digitizing inspection records, conducting random and post‑occupancy inspections during the growing season, and using Maryland's OSHA state program authority to adopt standards beyond federal minimums where warranted. "Preoccupancy housing inspections miss the cumulative public health risks that arise during the growing season," he told the committee.
Committee members said the findings were troubling and asked about comparative approaches in other states; Sturgess noted North Carolina uses additional state standards and suggested Maryland could learn from such models. The committee requested the study report and follow‑up materials.
