Brimer et al. v. Hand Tool Group

The Honorable Mark H. Pierce of the Santa Clara County Superior Court granted the parties’ motion to approve the Consent Judgment in the case Brimer et al. v. 3M Company, et al., on October 23, 2012.  This enforcement action resolved citizen enforcers Russell Brimer, John Moore, and Peter Englander’s allegations that sixteen defendants sold hand tools, garden tools, and/or kitchen utensils containing the phthalate chemicals di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (“DEHP”), di-n-butyl phthalate (“DBP”), butyl benzyl phthalate (“BBP”), and the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings. 

As part of the settlement, the defendants agreed not to sell any covered products in California after September 15, 2012, unless the products contain no more than 1,000 parts per million (0.1%) of DEHP, DBP, and BBP in any accessible component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  After June 15, 2013, all covered products must also contain no more than 100 parts per million of lead in any accessible component when analyzed using the same testing methodologies.  Additionally, each defendant agreed to provide the reformulation standards to its vendors by September 13, 2012, and instruct them to provide products that comply with the reformulation standards expeditiously.  Because the defendants agreed to reformulate the covered products to eliminate the need for Proposition 65 warnings, Brimer, Moore, and Englander agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $797,500, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, the waived civil fine, and compensation to whistleblowers Brimer, Moore, and Englander and their counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.