Last week, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that three lawsuits against Michigan’s environmental officials over Flint’s lead-tainted water must be litigated in the state court and not the federal court. At the heart of the appeal was whether the officials were...
Lead
“Get the Lead Out” Campaign Aims To Raise Awareness In Schools Over Lead In Drinking Water
Boston area schools started a new school year recently and two organizations took steps to ensure that parents were made aware of steps that they could take to reduce the likelihood that their children would ingest lead particles from drinking water sources. As part...
Paint Companies Fight $1.15 Billion Lead Ruling
Yesterday, paint manufacturer Sherwin-Williams Co. and two former lead pigment makers (ConAgra Grocery Products and NL Industries) argued to a California appellate court that a trial court’s ruling of $1.15 billion against the companies should be reversed. The...
Two Lead Class Actions Revived By Sixth Circuit
On July 28, 2017, the Sixth Circuit court revived two class action lawsuits regarding lead-contaminated drinking water in Flint, Michigan, finding that the Safe Drinking Water Act does not preempt the lawsuits from proceeding. The two lawsuits, Boler v. Earley and...
Lead Paint Grants Given to New Hampshire and Vermont
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently awarded Lead-Based Hazard Control grants to states to assist with the financial burden of deleading homes in the states’ housing stocks. As part of the grants, New Hampshire received $5.8...
Organization Finds Detectable Lead Levels In Baby Food
On June 15, 2017, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) issued a report in which they found “detectable” levels of lead in twenty percent of 2,164 samples of baby food that were tested. Lead samples were most commonly found in fruit juices, root vegetables...
Developer Fined by EPA for Lead Paint Violations
Brady Sullivan Millworks, one of the largest development companies in New Hampshire, recently settled a claim filed against them by the Environmental Protection Agency for various lead paint violations at one of its properties. Brady Sullivan Millworks agreed to pay a...
Landlords Fined For Discrimination Due To Lead Paint
Four landlords and rental agencies in Western Massachusetts recently agreed to pay $13,000 in penalties after they allegedly discriminated against families with children in attempting to rent available properties, as the properties in question each contained lead...
“D” Grade For MA Schools Due To Levels of Lead In Water
A report recently published by the Environment America Research & Policy Center and U.S. PIRG Education Fund entitled Get the Lead Out: Ensuring Safe Drinking Water for Our Children at School gave Massachusetts a “D” grade when assessing the...
Lead-Free Drinking Water For Schools: MA Proposes Steps
On the heels of a recent report from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in which the state found that 164 public schools in a study of 300 schools had drinking water or water used in food preparation with lead levels above permissible regulatory limits of 15 parts per...