HGTV stars Chip and Joanna Gaines will spend $200,000 as part of a settlement with the EPA over alleged violations of the agency’s Toxic Substances Control Act and Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule (RRP), the EPA announced June 5.
The couple, which operates Magnolia Homes in Waco, Texas, “will spend $160,000 to abate lead-based paint hazards in those homes where occupants are at the highest risk for exposure to dust from lead-based paint,” EPA said. Magnolia also will pay a $40,000 civil penalty, the agency said.
The violations stem from work done in 2015 on 33 properties in Waco. The EPA says video footage of Magnolia’s renovations in the hit show Fixer Upper did not depict the lead-safe practices normally required by the RRP rule.
