EPA Fines ‘Fixier Upper’ Hosts Chip & Joanna Gaines $40,000

Chip and Joanna Gaines are best known as the hosts on HGTV’s reality series Fixer Upper. However, they and their company, Magnolia Homes, were fined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for negligence in handling the dangers posed by older lead-based paints.

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According to the EPA’s website, it filed its lawsuit after reviewing footage from many episodes of the program spanning “several” of its seasons. The EPA contests the couple did not adhere to the standards set by the “Renovation, Remodeling and Painting Rule” (RRP Rule), which is in place to protect home occupants from being exposed to “dangerous levels of lead from the lead-based paint often contained in homes built before 1978.”

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Specifically, the EPA has determined 33 violations on the set of Fixer Upper, such as neglecting to provide home owners with a pamphlet containing information about lead-based paint prior to initiating their renovations to failing to mark and properly ventilate hazardous areas. Moreover, Magnolia did not properly inform its televised audience about the dangers posed by lead-based paint.

However, Magnolia eagerly complied and worked with the EPA upon hearing from them. In addition to paying a fine of $40,000, the company is starting a “supplemental environmental project (SEP) to abate lead-based paint hazards in homes or child-occupied facilities in the Waco, Texas area.” Additionally, an episode of the show detailed some of the steps renovation firms are required to take in order to minimize the dangers of lead-based paint.

The fifth and final season of Fixer Upper concluded in April of this year.