Brimer v. Austram, Inc.; Armstrong Garden Centers, Inc., et al.

On December 15, 2006, The Honorable Peter J. Busch of the San Francisco Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Brimer v. Austram, Inc; Armstrong Garden Centers Inc. on December 15, 2006. In this enforcement action, citizen enforcer Russell Brimer alleged that the defendants Austram, Inc. ("Austram") and Armstrong Garden Centers, Inc. ("Armstrong") sold decorative stained glass extension/garden hooks containing the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Austram and Armstrong agreed not to sell any stained glass or garden hooks in California after September 5, 2006, unless the stained glass and garden hooks have Proposition 65 warnings provided or comply with the reformulation standards when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies. Austram and Armstrong commit to undertake their best efforts to ensure that all of their stained glass and garden hooks sold in California shall qualify as reformulated on January 1, 2007, and thereafter.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $22,000, to be divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to whistleblower Brimer and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.