A California appeals court upheld a ruling requiring paint manufacturers to remove lead paint from certain homes in San Diego and nine other cities and counties in the state, San Diego City Attorney Mara W. Elliott said Wednesday.
The California 6th District Court of Appeal on Tuesday upheld a lower court’s decision ordering Sherwin-Williams Company, NL Industries Inc. and Con-Agra Grocery Products Co. to remove lead paint from homes in California built before 1951. The ruling is the latest installment in a 17-year case, Elliott said.
The case has been remanded to the Santa Clara County Superior Court to determine the amount the companies will have to pay.
The companies plan to appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court, according to Elliott.
The ruling narrowed the lower court’s decision, which applied to homes built before 1978, the year the government outlawed lead paint. This ruling covers homes built before 1951, when the companies stopped advertising lead paint, according to the Los Angeles Times.
San Diego has about 310,000 homes built before 1978, according to a 2014 city estimate.
The ruling also affects Santa Clara County, Oakland and San Francisco.
–City News Service