Lead paint suit dismissal puts Youngstown in bind
The decision by Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray to voluntarily dismiss the state’s lead paint lawsuit against 10 paint manufacturers prompts this question: Who will make Mahoning County whole as it deals with the effects of lead poisoning? More than 7,000 children have been diagnosed since the board of health began monitoring the disease in 1996.
According to county Health Commissioner Matthew Stefanak, the dismissal of the state lawsuit leaves communities holding the bag for the cost of caring for and treating the victims. Stefanak pegged the price tag at $750,000 a year, given what the school system, juvenile justice and health care systems and Medicaid have to do to care for children suffering the effects of lead poisoning.
Those diagnosed often struggle with learning disabilities, hyperactivity and delinquency. Such children are seven times more likely to become involved with the juvenile justice system than their healthy counterparts.
In Mahoning County, the city of Youngstown has borne the brunt because of the large percentage of homes that were built before 1978, when lead-based paint was outlawed.
City officials estimate that more than $1 million has been spent on lead abatement, and Mayor Jay Williams wants to recover that money — from the manufacturers, processors and marketers of lead-based paint. That’s why the city filed a lawsuit, even before the state did, against the paint manufacturers.
Former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann took the legal initiative against the paint makers, as did other states. In the suit, Dann alleged the 10 companies continued to market lead paint long after they knew it was toxic.
But in voluntarily dismissing the suit, Attorney General Cordray offered this explanation: “I understand and strongly agree that exposure to lead paint is a very real problem. But I also know not every problem can be solved by a lawsuit.”
Legal hammer
But without the legal hammer, the state is powerless to get manufacturers to take financial responsibility for the damage their product has done.
While Youngstown’s lawsuit became part of the action filed by Dann, the various entities in Mahoning County that have been dealing with the lead poisoning problem have adopted another strategy. Atty. Angela Mikulka is under contract to sue owners of rental property who are not in compliance with lead laws.
As of Jan. 8, 34 civil cases were filed, five structures were demolished, two were made lead safe by the owners and the remainder are in various stages of progress.
But even with this approach, there are costs involved, which is why the decision by the attorney general to voluntarily dismiss the lawsuit is disappointing.
The enormity of the lead paint problem in Youngstown was revealed in 1998 when The Vindicator published a series of stories showing the extent to which inner city children were being poisoned.
Once the stories illustrated how homes clad in lead-based paints that were peeling or chipping from walls were ticking time bombs, federal officials decided to take a closer look.
That, in turn, spurred government officials in Youngstown and Mahoning County to act.
The lawsuit against the manufacturers was one way to help local governments recover some of the money they are spending. Perhaps Cordray will now persuade the 10 paint makers that they have a moral obligation to cities like Youngstown.