This edition of LEAD Action News marks the republication of the newsletter since its untimely suspension in May 2001. Thanks to fresh funding from the Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA) – see disclaimer below* - we are once again able to publish news of the ongoing battle against lead contamination.

The articles in this edition are a timely reminder that removing lead from motor vehicle fuel in Australia was just one victory in the campaign against the insidious contamination of the world by lead products.

The innovative legal protections for Rhode Island Renters at risk from lead contamination are an encouraging new development. However, earlier this month the jury verdict in the Rhode Island lead case was overturned on appeal, leaving Rhode Islanders with a billion dollar bill to clean up their contaminated housing stock. Fortunately, other state and city authorities in the USA seem determined to press on with their paint company litigation by arguing that the decision is not binding on their courts.

Back home, this country’s behaviour is called into question in the report on Australia’s Dirty Trade in lead exports. The fact that Australian lead is used to make leaded petrol which is possibly sold in some 16 developing countries, like Algeria and Yemen, is a disgrace. We call on the Rudd government to ban the export from Australia, of the lead that is used to make the lead additive for leaded petrol. This may entail banning some of the lead exports to countries where that lead is processed as a petrol additive for road vehicles.

In a story from Western Australia, Monument to Birds, we read the disturbing news that in the mining port town of Esperance, a study of the local bird population has found lead levels to be the highest in the world.

The editor has delved into our library and included a fascinating story on the great Spanish painter Goya and his dangerous habit of making his own pigments from lead ores.

I would like to thank all those who helped republish LEAD Action News and in particular Tony Lennon and our cartoonist Rose Lennon. I note that Rose has provided us with a mascot (at right), for the newsletter, called ‘Red’, inspired no doubt by the tenacity of activists in Rhode Island.

* DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed herein are not necessarily the views of the Commonwealth, and the Commonwealth does not accept responsibility for any information or advice contained herein.