State AGs Focused on Lead-Paint Prevention/Solutions, Not Litigation

"Will this spread?"  That's the question surrounding the ongoing state-level focus on what was once the lead-paint industry.

And, that's why there has been such intense monitoring of Rhode Island (RI) lead paint trials I & II and why any RI lead paint trial III will be followed closely.  (Defendants filed motions in April for dismissal or new trials.)

The answer seems to be no, it won't spread.  The focus seems to be on preventing additional problems from the lead paint still around on surfaces in America as well as solving the ones that already exist. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), that problem certainly isn't what it was.  The CDC reports that the percentage of lead-poisoned children has declined to under six percent from more than 88 percent in the late 1970s.  During RI lead paint trial II, Dr. Patricia Nolan, who had headed the RI Department of Health for ten years, hailed this decline as one of the major public-health success stories.  The current interim goal in RI is to bring that percentage to five percent or under.

In the May issue of GOVERNING MAGAZINE, there is a clear "not likely" on the matter of lead paint's morphing into a "hot litigation subject."  GOVERNING MAGAZINE and GOVERNING.COM is a monthly publication and 24/7 online site with an audience of about 275,000 state officials, think tanks, corporate leaders, and the media.

In the May opinion piece GOVERNING MAGAZINE staff writer Alan Greenblatt concedes that the state victory in RI lead paint trial II has been "a major victory for the plaintiffs, no matter what the ultimate disposition might be." (Defendants are appealing on multiple grounds.)  However, as to the issue of "whether the Rhode Island case will set in motion similar suits elsewhere," the opinion is, no.

Here is why:

• Public nuisance laws vary from state to state.  How RI lead paint II played out in RI might not be viable in other states.

• State AGs are seeking prevention/solutions, not litigation.  In 2003, 47 state AGs signed agreements with paint makers for warning labels about the hazard of lead dust during home renovation. (During RI II, Dr. Michael Shannon of Harvard testified to this growing issue of lead poisoning during fixing up This Old House.)

• Although state AGs are "rarely timid when it comes to seeking out new enemies to sue," they don't seem eager to press forward on this front.  The reason could be the legal landmines associated with targeting a product which hasn't been legal since 1978.  And/or it could be that RI's Judge Michael Silverstein ruled against punitive damages.