Held v. Stone Mountain USA, LLC

Whistleblower Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E.’s allegations against settling party Stone Mountain USA, LLC (“Stone Mountain”) were resolved on May 17, 2013, when the parties entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement.  Held alleged that Stone Mountain sold vinyl/PVC tote bags 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, Stone Mountain agreed not to sell any vinyl/PVC tote bags in California after May 15, 2013, unless the tote bags contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP in any accessible component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Should Stone Mountain provide written certification that it has complied with these heightened standards by June 1, 2013, Held agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied. 

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $37,000, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to citizen enforcer Held and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.