PROVIDENCE – Sherwin-Williams Co. and two other former lead-paint makers who lost a Rhode Island lawsuit say the state’s bid to recover $2.4 billion in cleanup costs is a “gold-plated proposal” that should be rejected.
Rhode Island’s plan to force Sherwin-Williams, NL Industries and Millennium Holdings LLC to cover the costs of dealing with lead paint in about 240,000 homes is overly broad and may harm children the state seeks to protect, lawyers for the companies said in a December court filing. Manufacturers have appealed the 2006 verdict to the R.I. Supreme Court.
“Make no mistake about it, what the attorney general seeks is not only economically dangerous, but may well result in higher – not lower – blood-lead levels in children and others across the state,” lawyers for Sherwin-Williams said in the filing.
The Rhode Island verdict was the first to hold the lead-paint makers liable for harm caused by their products sold decades ago.
State officials estimated in September that it could cost about $2.4 billion to either remove or seal up the lead paint in homes, schools and child-care centers across the Ocean State. (READ MORE) They added that the project might take as long as four years to complete.
