New California ballot measure will let paint companies off the hook for lead cleanup, charge taxpayers instead

In an attempt to avoid spending hundreds of millions of dollars to remove hazardous lead paint from California homes, two of the liable companies have successfully qualified a ballot initiative for this November that would transfer the responsibility to taxpayers.

Photo credit:  USEPA Environmental-Protection-Agency (Lead Paint) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons


Sherwin-Williams and ConAgra collected enough signatures to qualify the measure,which would upend their court ordered obligations for the clean up of homes built before 1951. The two companies, along with NL Industries, had been successfully sued by Los Angeles, San Francisco, and 8 other areas and found liable for creating a public nuisance.

The courts found that the companies knowingly sold and advertised lead paint, despite having knowledge that it had serious health effects, especially in children.

Lead paint was banned for home use in 1978.

If approved by California voters, the measure would authorize a $2 billion taxpayer funded loan to pay for the cleanup.

The proponents of the measure have argued that it will provide sufficient funding not only for lead paint removal but also for the removal of mold and other hazards from homes and schools throughout the state and not just in the cities that won the lawsuit.

However, the companies and legislators are reportedly negotiating legislation that would limit their liability to $500 million over the next decade, overturn the court ruling, and absolve them from additional liability. If successful, they will be able to remove the initiative from the ballot but it must be done by tomorrow, June 28.