PROVIDENCE – Seeking to lay the groundwork for execution of a Rhode Island jury’s landmark verdict last year against three former lead paint manufacturers, R.I. Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch this month filed a $2.4 billion plan to abate lead in 240,000 houses and buildings across the state, at the paint companies’ expense.
The verdict against Sherwin-Williams, NL Industries and Millennium Holdings LLC, which came after six days’ deliberations and more than six years in court, was a major setback for an industry that has won dozens of similar lawsuits and was seen as a precedent for other such lawsuits across the country.
The state drafted its R.I. Lead Nuisance Abatement Plan at the direction of Superior Court Judge Michael A. Silverstein, who presided over the trial. The plan prioritizes the abatement, identifies abatement treatment options and spells out how the abatement program should be sequenced and administered.
