Englander v. Fastenal Company

On July 28, 2016, citizen enforcer Peter Englander and settling party Fastenal Company (“Fastenal”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement.  Englander had alleged that Fastenal sold fuel pump nozzles with vinyl/PVC components containing the phthalate chemical di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (“DEHP”) in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Fastenal agreed not to sell any fuel pump nozzles with vinyl/PVC components in California after August 1, 2016, unless the nozzles contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP in each component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $25,000, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to citizen enforcer Englander and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.