TCG Clients Secure Fines Up To $937K So Far in 2013

Posted: 03/15/2013  browse the blog archive

During the first two months of 2013, clients of The Chanler Group secured civil penalties under Proposition 65 totaling up to $936,500 through settlement agreements with retailers and manufacturers who allegedly imported, distributed, or sold consumer products in California containing chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive harm, without first providing the required health hazard warning.

Fully three-fourths of the civil penalties obtained in settlements is designated for California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), the lead agency responsible for implementing Proposition 65.  The remaining 25% of civil penalties is designated for the clients of The Chanler Group who identified the violations of Proposition 65 and issued notices to the alleged violators.  In lieu of additional civil penalties, an additional $29,000 was paid to Silent Spring Institute, a non-profit research organization dedicated to identifying the links between environmental chemicals and cancer.

Notable among the Proposition 65 settlements reached by TCG clients so far in 2013 are agreements regarding:

  • Fiskars Brand tools that allegedly contain the phthalate DEHP, a chemical known to the State of California to cause reproductive harm
  • Hard Rock Café flame-cooked burgers that allegedly contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer
  • Evriholder Products ceramicware that allegedly contains lead, a chemical known to the State of California to cause reproductive harm

Proposition 65, or "The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986," requires manufacturers and retailers to provide warnings if products they offer for sale contain chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm.  OEHHA maintains a list of over 800 of these chemicals, including lead, cadmium, arsenic, formaldehyde, phthalates such as DEHP and BBP, and flame retardants known as chlorinated Tris.

Learn more about The Chanler Group’s Proposition 65 practice.

Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (“OEHHA”), Proposition 65, settlements