News Release (C-24-98)

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For Immediate Release (C-24-98) Contact: Communications Office (916) 324-9670 November 9, 1998

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Renders Decision on the Petition to Delist Mercury from the Proposition 65 List

SACRAMENTO – On Friday, November 6, 1998, Judge James Ford heard the matter of Kerr Corporation v. Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA). In this lawsuit, Kerr (a manufacturer of dental amalgam) challenged OEHHA’s decision to deny Kerr’s petition to remove mercury and mercury compounds from the Proposition 65 list of chemicals known to the State of California to cause developmental or reproductive toxicity.

Judge Ford denied the petition of writ of mandate, which would have compelled OEHHA to remove mercury from the Proposition 65 list of chemicals. The court found that OEHHA was correct in listing mercury and mercury compounds based on a formal identification by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, an "authoritative body" for Proposition 65 purposes, of mercury and mercury compounds as causing developmental toxicity. Judge Ford noted that it would be inappropriate for the Court to intervene unless there was abuse of discretion or a clear error by OEHHA, neither of which had occurred.

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1998 Releases | Archived Press Releases