« Ind. Law - Hoosiers may apply for gun permits online | Main | Ind. Decisions - Court of Appeals issues 0 today (and 3 NFP) »

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Environment - More on: Rhode Island's Massive Lead Paint Tort Case

Overturned! That is the word this afternoon.

Susan A. Baird of the Providence Business News reports in a long story that begins:

PROVIDENCE – In a unanimous ruling this morning, the R.I. Supreme Court rejected the landmark decision against former lead-pigment makers, holding that public-nuisance law had been misapplied. “This Court is bound by the law and can provide justice only to the extent that the law allows,” the justices wrote.

In February 2006, a R.I. Superior Court jury found that lead paint that had accumulated on Rhode Island homes and public buildings in the decades before such pigments were banned constituted a public nuisance, and that Millennium Holdings LLC, NL Industries Inc. (formerly National Lead Co.) and The Sherwin-Williams Co. “were liable for causing or substantially contributing” to that nuisance and should be held responsible for the cost of abating the risk. A fourth defendant, Atlantic Richfield Co. (ARCO) was cleared of liability.

Here is the 83-page opinion in Rhode Id. v. Lead Industries. See also the "summary" of the opinion on this RI Judiciary page.

Here is the AP coverage.

For background, start with this ILB entry from May 26, 2008.

See also the Providence Journal's breaking news blog.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 1, 2008 01:05 PM
Posted to Environment