Federal Judge Orders Paint Companies to Pay for Lead Paint Removal
Earlier this week, a federal judge ordered paint companies Sherwin-Williams, ConAgra, and NL Industries to pay the State of California $1.15 billion to remove lead paint from the interior surfaces of pre-1978 homes in 10 California cities and counties, the Los Angeles Times reported. The money will go into a fund administered by California’s Department of Public Health Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Branch and will pay for inspections and lead abatement on the inside walls of tens of thousands of older homes, many of which are in low-income neighborhoods.
Lead is a toxic heavy metal known to cause cancer, reproductive harm, and developmental harm. The leading causes of childhood lead poisoning are lead-based paint and lead-contaminated dust. Lead paint was banned for use in housing in 1978, but homes built before then that have not been renovated are still likely to contain lead paint. As the paint deteriorates it cracks and flakes, and children may place their hands or mouths on flaking window sills, ingest lead-contaminated household dust, or even consume paint chips, leading to lead poisoning.
The judge awarded damages to Santa Clara, Alameda, Los Angeles, Monterey, San Mateo, Solano, and Ventura Counties, and to the cities of Oakland, San Diego, and San Francisco.
The paint manufacturers will appeal the decision.
Lead is known to the State of California to cause cancer and reproductive harm, and under Proposition 65 companies offering products for sale in California that contain lead must provide consumers with a health hazard warning. That means lead-based paint for sale in California must be accompanied by a warning to consumers that the product contains lead. The Chanler Group’s citizen enforcer clients have identified the presence of lead in many consumer products and brought enforcement actions seeking reformulation of the products to eliminate the presence of of lead in products, such tableware and decorated soda bottles.
The Chanler Group represents citizen enforcers who, acting in the public interest, commence actions against businesses offering products for sale in California that contain chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive harm without first providing the health hazard warning required by Proposition 65. Citizen enforcers bringing Proposition 65 actions in the public interest may obtain a Court Judgment imposing civil penalties, an injunction requiring reformulation of products, and/or provision of health hazard warnings. The Chanler Group has represented citizen enforcers of Proposition 65 for more than twenty years.