Thursday, November 20, 1986/The Battalion/Page 9
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HOUSTON (AP) — A leaded
( paint banned by the federal govern-
Hent for use around children has
Ren used in the Houston Indepen
dent School District to repaint desks
and chairs, the Houston Post re
ported Wednesday.
■ In a copyrighted story, the Post
quoted unnamed school officials as
slying that the paint has been used
for’ at least 15 years to refurbish
Rousands of pieces of district furni-
, lure.
I Paint cans used by the school dis-
iitlict warn against using the product
on children’s articles and are clearly
marked for industrial use only, the
newspaper said.
Trudy Herolz, school district
Spokeswoman, said Wednesday offi-
lals were conducting an investiga
tion, and that Superintendent Joan
Raymond would address the issue at
a press conference later.
Young children are particularly
susceptible to lead poisoning, which
can produce mental retardation,
permanent nerve damage and some
times death. Lead poisoning affects
an estimated 5 percent of all Ameri
can children, according to federal
health reports.
Dan Sowards, chief of the hazard
ous products program at the Texas
Department of Health, said, “This is
a bad situation and the school dis
trict most definitely should stop us
ing it (the paint).”
Travis Starr, who oversees main
tenance for the district, said the use
of the paint would be halted if it is
deemed to be dangerous.
Dr. James Haughton, director of
the Houston health department,
said, “We do have a potentially haz
ardous situation here.”
Haughton said his office planned
to inspect the district’s painting op
erations Wednesday to determine
the lead concentration of the paint.
State officials said children could
ingest the lead by chipping off or
chewing off the dangerous paint on
desks and chairs.
“Lead fumes are also dangerous,
and freshly painted items would be
especially hazardous,” Sowards said.
HISD maintenance officials were
apparently unaware that the dis
trict’s paint contained lead until Post
reporters showed them a copy of the
label, according to the newspaper.
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DALLAS (AP) — A federal
agency attacked the hiring direc
tives of a major pharmaceutical
company and has asked to join a
sex discrimination lawsuit against
the firm.
A former saleswoman in Ortho
11 Pharmaceutical Inc.’s Dallas divi-
|sion filed suit in December 1985,
claiming she was fired because
I she became pregnant. The Equal
"Employment Opportunity Com-
■ mission says it agrees.
The EEOC also said in its court
™ tiling last week in Dallas that Or-
|tho’s printed hiring guidelines
stereotype women as inferior and
discriminate against them in em
ployment.
Describing the proper profile
of a female hire, the manual
I states, “She should have the look
I of someone who might clean her
bathroom or kitchen on her
hands and knees.”
Ortho spokeswoman Donna
Pepe said the company dismissed
the saleswoman because she ne
glected her job, not because of
her pregnancy.
Oilman Hunt claims
projects not slowed
with legal problems
DALLAS (AP) — Oilman William
Herbert Hunt said Wednesday that
contractors working on projects for
Placid Oil Co. are not being slowed
by the string of legal battles sur
rounding the company owned by
him and two of his brothers.
But Hunt said it could take as long
as five years to see how Placid Oil
will be affected by the legal fights
waged by he and his brothers against
23 creditor-banks.
Hunt spoke with reporters in a
rare question-answer session after
giving a speech to petroleum engi
neers.
He and his brothers, Nelson Bun
ker and Lamar, filed a $14 billion
lawsuit against the banks several
months ago. The Hunts claim the
banks conspired to destroy Placid
and another Hunt company, Penrod
Drilling Co.
Placid, one of its subsidiaries and
a private trust owned by William
Herbert Hunt later filed for bank
ruptcy protection from creditors.
Hunt spoke Wednesday to the So
ciety of Petroleum Engineers and
talked briefly with reporters af
terward, saying that suits against the
banks have caused concern among
companies doing business with
Placid.
“But I don’t think anyone is sit
ting,” Hunt said when asked about
contractors working with Placid. “I
think everyone is moving ahead.”
Asked how the lawsuit against the
banks will affect his company. Hunt
said, “That is a long-range thing. We
discussed it with legal counsel.
That’s one of the things that will be
answered in two, three or five years
down the road, whenever things de
velop in the courthouse.”
In his speech. Hunt urged do
mestic industries to unite in a fight
to roll back government regulations.
He said industries are handicapped
by regulations imposed by the gov
ernment under pressure from envi
ronmentalists.
“Let’s face it, Jane Fonda is a hell
of a lot more sexy than you are,”
Hunt said. “You get these movie
stars involved. You get this cry to
save the environment, and it’s tough
to counteract that.”
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