Held v. Akerue Industries, LLC

The parties involved in the case Held v. Akerue Industries, LLC executed a Consent Judgment on September 28, 2015.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E. alleged that Akerue Industries, LLC (“Akerue”) sold portable stove bags containing the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.  

As part of the agreement, Akerue agreed not to sell any portable stove bags in California after the Alameda County Superior Court approves the Judgment, unless the bags contain no more than 90 parts per million of lead when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or have a Proposition 65 warning provided.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $10,000, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to whistleblower Held and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.