On Oct. 22, 2019 the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a motion by 4th District Supervisor Janice Hahn and 5th District Supervisor Kathryn Barger to use a recent $134 million settlement to remove lead paint from thousands of homes in LA County, thus protecting children now and for generations to come from toxic lead poisoning.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to use a $134 million settlement to remove lead paint from thousands of homes in Los Angeles. Fourth District County Supervisor Chair Janice Hahn, who represents Long Beach, and 5th County Supervisor Kathryn Barger announced the motion was to the board, according to a Oct. 22 press release from Hahn’s office.
The County of Los Angeles is one of nine public entities who recently won a 19-year court case against three paint manufacturers who continued to advertise and sell paint that contained lead, despite knowing the substance is toxic to humans. The three companies have been ordered to pay $305 million in damages, $134 million of which will go to LA County, according to Hahn’s office.
“Children are still being poisoned by the lead paint these companies profited off of for decades,” Hahn, who authored the motion, said. “I applaud the aggressive efforts of our litigation team in their pursuit of environmental justice. We are going to put this funding to work removing lead paint from thousands of homes in LA County so that we can protect children now and for generations to come from lead poisoning.”
The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Oct. 22 to use the money received from the court case to create a new Lead Paint Hazard Mitigation Program in partnership with the LA County Department of Public Health and the Los Angeles County Development Authority. This program will remove lead paint from an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 homes over the next eight years, according to a press release from Hahn’s office.
“All of our children deserve to live in homes and communities that are free from environmental hazards,” Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, said in the press release. “The proposed program is critically needed to ensure that low-income families with young children can live in housing free from lead paint hazards.”
The Lead Paint Hazard Mitigation Program will focus on buildings that were built before 1951 in low income communities that have a large amount of children ages six and under residing there, according to Hahn’s office.
Lead paint is currently the most prominent environmental hazard facing children in LA County, the press release stated. Lead exposure in children can cause permanent brain damage and learning disabilities. Although lead paint was banned in the United States in 1978, approximately 3,000 children are diagnosed with lead poisoning each year, according to Hahn’s office.