PROVIDENCE – Two paint manufacturers today filed notices they will appeal Superior Court Associate Justice Michael A. Silverstein’s Feb. 26 ruling in the state’s lawsuit against former makers of lead paint.
Lawyers for NL Industries Inc. and Sherwin-Williams Inc. filed the notices of appeal this afternoon with the clerk of Providence County Superior Court, minutes after the filing of Silverstein’s order and final judgment in the case, according to a statement from Craig N. Berke, a spokesman for the R.I. judiciary.
The notices will be filed later with the R.I. Supreme Court, where the appeals will be heard, if the court accepts them.
The courts had received no notice of any appeal by Millenium Holdings LLC, the third company held responsible in the case, Berke said.
The case is “State of Rhode Island v. Lead Industries Association Inc., et. al.” On Feb. 22, 2006, a six-member Superior Court jury ruled that lead paint was sufficiently harmful and widespread in the state to constitute a civil nuisance, and that Sherwin-Williams, NL Industries and Millennium Holdings should be held accountable. It cleared a fourth company, Atlantic Richfield, of responsibility for lead-paint problems in Rhode Island.
Judge Silverstein last month upheld that verdict and denied the paint companies’ request for a new trial. In his 197-page decision, he also said he would appoint a special master to help decide whether the companies must remove the paint or might just cover it up. The amount the companies must pay was to have been set after acceptable methods of remediation had been determined.
Lead paint – which has been found to cause neurological problems, especially in children – can be found on as many as 240,000 homes in the state and on many schools and other public buildings, state officials say.
The appeals process is expected to take months, Berke said.
