Lead paint suppliers settle California lawsuit for $305M
Source: Associated Press
Lead paint suppliers settle California lawsuit for $305M
By DON THOMPSON
July 17, 2019
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The nation’s major suppliers of lead paint have agreed to pay California’s largest cities and counties $305 million to settle a nearly 20-year-old lawsuit, attorneys said Wednesday.
The settlement comes after years of legal and legislative battling in California and other states. Lead paint suppliers tried to change California law last year with a ballot initiative that they later withdrew.
A judge initially required Sherwin-Williams Co., ConAgra Grocery Products Co. and NL Industries Inc. to pay $1.15 billion to clean up lead paint. An appeals court in 2017 affirmed that lead paint is a public nuisance but ruled that the companies only would have to pay for cleaning up homes built before 1951, leading to the settlement.
“We’re very pleased that we have hundreds of millions of dollars to dedicate to cleaning up this hazard in our communities,” Santa Clara County Counsel James Williams said. “The real beneficiaries of this case will be the current and future children of California who will now have far less chance of being poisoned by lead.”
It’s unclear if the settlement will spark other lead paint lawsuits, he said, citing legal conditions unique to California. The money will go to Alameda, Los Angeles, Monterey, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Ventura counties, as well as Oakland, San Diego and San Francisco.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/a7c0509cc8df4beab2b0b7920ad1c737
