Jury to Decide on $52.6 Million Lead Paint Suit

By Monica Galvan

Published on June 22, 2007

After three weeks of testimony, the Milwaukee jury will decide whether NL Industries, Inc. should have to pay for the cleanup of lead paint in approximately 11,000 homes inhabited by low-income families.

The city’s attorney presented evidence documenting some 7,000 Milwaukee children who, according to a 1996 study, showed unsafe levels of lead in their blood. Lead can cause neurological damage and learning disabilities, especially when young children are exposed to the substance.

The lawyer for NL Industries, Inc. argued that the dangers of lead paint were public knowledge and that the city and federal government mandated the use of lead paint in buildings in the 1970s due to it durability. He further argued that it is the property owner’s responsibility to adhere to public health codes.

Although lead paint was banned by the federal government in 1978, it is still present in older buildings.

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