Milwaukee's bid to force a former lead paint manufacturer to pay for the cleanup of properties in the city was rejected Tuesday by a state intermediate Appeals court panel.

It was the last in a series of court setbacks by municipalities in their efforts to force lead paint manufacturers to pay for cleanups through enforcement of public nuisance laws.

In this case, a panel of the Wisconsin District 1 Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 the evidence was sufficient to uphold a jury's ruling that NL Industries Inc. does not have to pay the city costs of cleaning up the inner-city homes.

The appeal was based on a decision by a Milwaukee County jury last year the widespread presence of lead paint in Milwaukee homes was a public nuisance, but NL Industries did not "intentionally and unreasonably engage in conduct" that caused it and was not negligent.

In its appeal, the city contended that the judge made numerous mistakes in his instructions to the jury, as well as errors in admission of evidence and court procedures. The city wanted the appeals court to overturn the jury's verdict, arguing that the company knew for decades that childhood lead paint poisoning was a serious public health problem but continued to sell and promote the product.

The appeals court rejected the city's contention that the company knowingly sold a dangerous product, saying dangers associated with lead paint dust were largely unknown at the time.

"We conclude that there is credible evidence in the record to support the jury's conclusion that NL Industries did not know that the public nuisance found by the jury was resulting or was substantially certain to result from its conduct," Judge Patricia Curley wrote in a decision joined by Judge Ralph Adam Fine.

The city sought $52.6 million for the program, which spanned 1992 to 2006 and involved replacing old windows in 11,000 contaminated properties.

In July, City of Columbus, Ohio, voluntarily dismissed with prejudice its public nuisance lawsuit against former manufacturers of lead pigment. And earlier in the month, the Rhode Island Supreme Court unanimously dismissed a lawsuit demanding that manufacturers of lead paint pigment pay the billions of dollars needed to abate the risk of lead poisoning faced by kids who live in the older structures where lead paint remains a menace.

And, in a third case, the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year limited punitive damages in federal court tort cases to a 1:1 ratio of actual damages. That decision involved the Exxon Valdez tanker oil spill disaster off the coast of Alaska in 1989.

Although these cases have been filed throughout the country, dismissal of the Rhode Island suit leaves only two public nuisance suits still pending--one filed by the state of Ohio, and another by Santa Clara and other California municipalities.

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Appeals Court Nixes Milwaukee Lead Paint Cleanup Action

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