SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- California's attorney general and 10 municipalities are suing leading paint manufacturers, seeking to force them to remove lead paint from an estimated 5 million homes at a cost of $1 billion.
The San Jose Mercury News reports that the trial starting Monday in Santa Clara County Superior Court will decide whether the industry knew lead was harmful but sold it to consumers, anyway.
The industry argues that it never deliberately sold a harmful product to consumers and that the old paint is no longer a significant public health risk.
Lead paint has been banned in California for decades but remains in homes built before 1978. Exposure to lead is linked to learning disabilities and other health problems, especially in children.
Judge James Kleinberg will decide the case.
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