Experts continue to testify about the dangers of lead paint while activists decry what they say was the industry's callous use of lead pigments in their products.

09/19/2002

BY PETER B. LORD
Journal Environment Writer

PROVIDENCE -- While activists and community leaders rallied outside Superior Court yesterday against the companies that made lead paint, two experts on lead poisoning testified inside that all lead paint is hazardous regardless of its condition.

Dr. Peter R. Simon, head of the state Health Department's lead-paint program, testified that the only community-wide approach to lead poisoning was to "get rid of the kids or get rid of the lead."

Kim Dietrich, a professor of environmental health and pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, testified that because lead paint hasn't been used in years, the paint that's on buildings is all old and in a constant state of deterioration.

Journal photo / John Freidah LEAD PROTEST: Kerrin Field, 4, who was lead-poisoned when her parents renovated their Edgewood home, holds a sign at yesterday's rally in Providence.

"A home doesn't have to have layers of paint peeling down from the walls and ceilings to present a hazard," Dietrich said. "There's an assumption that intact paint poses no risk. But I don't believe such a condition exists."

The testimony of both experts struck at the heart of the defense raised by the paint companies. Their lawyers insist lead paints are safe when intact and maintained. It's the fault of landlords and homeowners when lead paints poison, they say.

The testimony came in the third week of the state's trial against eight companies that made or marketed lead-based paints before they were banned in 1978. The defendants are Sherwin-Williams Co., American Cyanimid Co., Atlantic Richfield Co., E.I. duPont deNemours & Co., NL Industries, Millennium Inorganic Chemicals Inc., ConAgra Grocery Products Co. and Cytec Industries.

The state proposed trying the case in phases. This first trial is over one question: Does lead paint create a public nuisance in Rhode Island?

If the state wins, it would then go on and try to prove what companies are liable and what the damages would be.

Lead activists, government officials and investors around the country are watching this trial because they believe if the state prevails, it will trigger a wave of similar lawsuits from other communities. The industry has successfully defended itself in dozens of damage suits, but none has been presented quite like this one.

Outside the courthouse at noon yesterday, Childhood Lead Action Project displayed 640 tiny pairs of shoes to represent the number of children lead-poisoned in Providence in the last six months.

"The lead industry knowingly poisoned America's children -- particularly poor and minority kids," executive director Roberta Hazen Aaronson said to the gathering. "It was pure greed and a callous disregard for the well-being of children that the industry continued to use lead pigment in paint. In fact, the industry's advertising campaign was aimed specifically at children -- lead paint was promoted as perfect for children's rooms."

David N. Cicilline, Democratic candidate for Providence mayor, reminded the crowd that he was floor manager for new, tougher lead-paint legislation the General Assembly passed last spring, and said if elected mayor he will create a comprehensive program to combat lead poisonings.

He said he would improve home inspections and enforcement, improve data collection about offending landlords and increase prosecutions as well as penalties. He also promised to have city inspectors report lead problems. City officials have always insisted lead enforcement issues are solely a state responsibility.

Defense lawyer John Tarantino spent much of yesterday trying to impeach Simon's testimony with information from the Department of Health's Web site and other documents that said good housekeeping and maintenance practices prevent lead poisoning.

In response, Simon said, "The Web site is an attempt to help all parents do the best they can. But in no way is it offered as a solution for eliminating lead exposures."

Read previous coverage of the trial, and find about more about lead-paint hazards in Rhode Island and how to deal with them at:

http://projo.com/extra/lead/