"SAN JOSE -- A Santa Clara County judge on Monday handed a billion-dollar victory to 10 California cities and counties that sued the paint industry in the interest of cleaning up old lead toxins permeating the walls of millions of homes."

"In a tentative ruling after a 13-year legal wrangle, Judge James P. Kleinberg ordered three corporations -- Sherwin-Williams, NL Industries and ConAgra -- to put $1.1 billion into a state-held fund that will be used to decontaminate pre-1978 homes that still have coats of lead paint -- once an industry standard.

'It's going to help a lot of kids,' said attorney Nancy Fineman, who was on the team representing Santa Clara County, which filed the initial suit in 2000. 'It's amazing that lead paint was banned in 1978, but it is still in homes throughout the 10 jurisdictions. People paint over it, and when it flakes, people inhale it.'"

Eric Kurhi reports for the San Jose Mercury News December 16, 2013. [2]