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Rhode Island Seeks Lead Cleanup Funds

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By ERIC TUCKER, The Associated Press

Published: September 15, 2007

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Three former lead paint manufacturers who lost a landmark lawsuit in Rhode Island would have to pay an estimated $2.4 billion to clean up hundreds of thousands of homes contaminated with lead under a state proposal released Friday.

The cleanup plan provides the most detailed road map to date for the mammoth undertaking of ridding Rhode Island homes of lead paint contamination. It would involve 10,000 workers and is projected to take four years. The state planned to file it in Superior Court late Friday, said Mike Healey, a spokesman for Attorney General Patrick Lynch.

The plan is subject to approval by a court, which could order less sweeping measures. The companies, Sherwin-Williams, NL Industries and Millennium Holdings, also are appealing the February 2006 jury verdict.

'It's a big number, by any stretch of the imagination,' said Jack McConnell, a lawyer for the state. 'But it's also a big problem that's gone on for a long time that requires a permanent solution.'

Scott Smith, a lawyer for Millennium Holdings, called the plan a 'boondoggle,' saying it was unworkable, too expensive and likely to disrupt people's lives.

The proposal estimates it will cost an average of $11,250 to clean a home, although a report issued earlier this year said it could cost as much as $18,500. It covers the roughly 240,000 homes in Rhode Island thought to contain lead paint, as well as thousands of additional seasonal homes, elementary schools and child care centers.

Rhode Island's lawsuit claimed the industry created a public nuisance, with tens of thousands of children being poisoned by lead since the early 1990s. It was the first state to sue, and its victory last year was the first time anyone successfully sued former lead paint manufacturers. Several municipalities and families have sued the industry, but none have been successful so far.

The companies argue that property owners and landlords should be responsible for cleaning up lead paint in their homes, and say the state has overstated the extent of the problem.

Superior Court Judge Michael Silverstein has said he thinks the companies do not have a good chance of getting the verdict overturned, and asked the state to come up with a plan for how the companies would clean up the problem.

Silverstein asked the three companies to respond to the proposal by Nov. 15, Smith said.

McConnell, the lawyer for the state, said he was hopeful the cleanup would begin next year.

The proposal excludes buildings constructed after 1978, when lead paint was banned for use in homes, as well as prisons, dormitories, nursing homes and other places where young children are unlikely to live.

The 127-page proposal says homes built before 1978 would have to be carefully inspected, with tests measuring lead paint levels on walls, floors and ceilings, as well as in dust on window sills and in the soil outside.

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