[bcc][faked-from] [Mpls] Press Release: Lead Case Raises Questions in Minneapolis

[Jennifer L. Rubenzer]

http://www.leadlawsuits.com/index.htm
 
See link for more information about lead based paint and it's history.  Maybe, as with many things, lawsuits are not the answer.
 
Jenny Rubenzer
Plymouth

________________________________

From: mpls-bounces at mnforum.org on behalf of Gregory Luce
Sent: Wed 11/10/2004 1:22 PM
To: mpls at mnforum.org
Subject: [bcc][faked-from] [Mpls] Press Release: Lead Case Raises Questions in Minneapolis



Project 504 is releasing this press notice today in response to the case out
of Milwaukee in which the City of Milwaukee is suing lead-paint
manufacturers for the cost of cleaning up the city.  In 2002, we made a
similar call upon the City of Minneapolis to initiate a suit against lead
paint manufacturers.

Gregory Luce
Project 504 (Jordan)
_____________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:               Gregory Luce or Joan Resner
Phone:          (612) 221-3947 or (612) 221-3946

MILWAUKEE LEAD-PAINT CASE BEGS THE QUESTION:
WHAT IS MINNEAPOLIS DOING?

A Wisconsin court decision forcing lead paint companies to trial to
determine if they must pay for Milwaukee's cost of lead abatement, again
begs the question in Minneapolis:  when will the mayor of Minneapolis pursue
the industry that caused the tragedy of lead poisonings in this city?

"Mayor RT Rybak repeatedly says the airline industry-specifically Northwest
Airlines-should pay for the public nuisance of airplane noise in South
Minneapolis, but where's the commitment to go after paint manufacturers for
poisoning our children?" asked Joan Resner, co-Executive Director of Project
504, a tenant advocacy group in Minneapolis.

In its decision November 9, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals reversed a trial
court's decision and determined that the case of City of Milwaukee vs. NL
Industries and Mautz Paint should go to a jury.  Milwaukee is suing to
recover the city's enormous cost in remediating lead-based paint hazards in
city homes, saying the companies are responsible for the alleged public
nuisance they created by marketing and selling lead-based paint throughout
the city.

In March 2002, Project 504 called on Mayor Rybak to initiate litigation
against lead paint and pigment manufacturers, saying that the "same energy,
activism and leadership that you exhibited toward sound abatement efforts
should be brought to bear in bringing additional resources and strategies to
the city's lead abatement efforts."

To date, while the city has apparently asked the city attorney to look into
the matter, progress in bringing action appears to have languished on an
attorney's desk.

In 2003, community investigators with Project 504 also documented lead-based
paint hazards in 89 of 150 North Minneapolis homes tested, with some homes
having more than ten times the level of lead-based paint hazards allowed by
federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines.

"The mayor can hold the airline industry accountable in more affluent South
Minneapolis, but where's the outrage for poor and struggling families in
North Minneapolis?" Resner asked.  "With the victory in Milwaukee, why can't
we follow their lead and take care of our kids here?"

Lead poisoning causes permanent damage to a child's brain.  Lead-poisoned
children often suffer from lower IQ levels, violent behavior, and learning
disabilities.  Deteriorated lead-based paint is the primary cause of lead
poisoning in children.  While property owners are responsible for
maintaining their properties so that they do not create a hazard, property
owners generally don't have the financial resources needed to remediate all
lead-based paint on their properties.

"Going after the paint manufacturers is the only viable financial solution
for cleaning up lead in this city," said Gregory Luce of Project 504.  "The
paint manufacturers know this and respond by pointing to landlords as the
problem.  But most landlords I know don't have the capital to clean up what
the paint companies knowingly created decades ago."

The Wisconsin court's decision is available at:
www.courts.state.wi.us/ca/opinions/03/pdf


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