Held v. Pacific Rim Ventures, Inc.

Posted: 02/20/2015  browse the case archive

The parties involved in the case Held v. Pacific Rim Ventures, Inc. executed a Consent Judgment on February 20, 2015.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E. alleged that Pacific Rim Ventures, Inc. (“Pacific Rim”) sold trunk organizers with vinyl/PVC handles 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 agreement, Pacific Rim agreed not to sell any trunk organizers with vinyl/PVC handles in California after the Alameda County Superior Court approves the Judgment, unless the cases contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP in any accessible component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Should Pacific Rim provide written certification that all trunk organizers with vinyl/PVC handles sold in California qualify as reformulated by August 15, 2015, Held agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $55,000, 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.   

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