Englander v. Orbit Irrigation Products, Inc. et al.

In the enforcement action Englander v. Orbit Irrigation Products, Inc., et al., the parties executed a Consent Judgment on September 6, 2013, which was  reviewed by the Alameda County Superior Court and approved on November 5, 2013.  The case resolved citizen enforcer Peter Englander’s allegations that the defendant Orbit Irrigation Products, Inc. (“Orbit”) sold hand tools with grips containing the phthalate chemical di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (“DEHP”) and the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings. 

As part of the settlement, Orbit agreed not to sell any tools with grips in California after the Alameda court approves the Consent Judgment, unless the grips contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP and 100 parts per million of lead when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or have Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should Orbit provide written certification that all tools grips sold in California qualify as reformulated by February 1, 2014, Englander agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied. 

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $53,500, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to whistleblower Englander and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.