Los Angeles County will use funds from a settlement with paint manufacturers to remove lead paint from up to 5,000 homes. (photo courtesy of L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn’s office)

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a motion by Board Chair Janice Hahn and Supervisor Kathryn Barger on Oct. 22 to use a recent $134-million settlement to remove lead paint from thousands of homes in throughout the county.

In 2018, the Los Angeles County and nine other local public entities won a landmark legal victory against three former manufacturers of lead paint. After 19 years of litigation, the court found the companies created an ongoing public nuisance by advertising lead paint use in homes while having knowledge of the toxic hazard to human health. Of the $305-million settlement, the county will receive $134 million.

“Children are still being poisoned by the lead paint these companies profited off of for decades,” said Hahn, 4th District, who authored the motion. “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 L.A. County so that we can protect children now and for generations to come from lead poisoning.”

The Board of Supervisors voted to use the $134-million settlement to create and fund a comprehensive lead paint hazard mitigation program in partnership with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and the Los Angeles County Development Authority. Over the next eight years, the program will allow for the removal of lead paint from an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 homes.

The program will target residential properties built before 1951 in low-income communities with a high prevalence of children under the age of six. Services will be free to those who qualify and will include testing for and remediation of lead paint hazards on indoor and outdoor surfaces. The program will also provide resources and education on lead hazards and how to prevent childhood lead poisoning.

“All of our children deserve to live in homes and communities that are free from environmental hazards,” said Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. “The proposed program is critically needed to ensure that low-income families with young children can live in housing free from lead paint hazards.”

Lead is a neurotoxin and exposure of children to lead can cause severe and permanent damage to the developing brain, including learning disabilities, deficits in attention and concentration, memory, comprehension and impulse control. Even though lead paint was banned in the United States in 1978, nearly 3,000 children are still diagnosed with lead poisoning each year in Los Angeles County.

For information, call (800)LA4LEAD.