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February 27, 2006

Judge to hear arguments on punitive damages in lead paint case

PROVIDENCE -- A judge is scheduled to hear arguments this afternoon on whether three former lead paint makers should have to pay punitive damages.

A jury last week found the three companies -- Sherwin Williams Co., Millennium Holdings and NL Industries -- liable for creating a public nuisance and said they should be ordered to clean up lead paint contamination.

At issue now is whether the companies can be punished with damages over and above the cost of cleanup.

The state says tens of thousands of children in Rhode Island have suffered lead poisoning since the early 1990s and that hundreds of thousands of homes contain lead paint.

Rhode Island sued former lead pigment manufacturers in 1999 and is the first state to defeat the companies in court.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Jack Perry  at 2:26 PM | Permalink