Moore v. Armstrong World Industries, Inc. and Congoleum Corporation

Citizen enforcer John Moore’s allegations against the defendants Armstrong World Industries, Inc. and Congoleum Corporation (collectively “Defendants”) were resolved on July 24, 2013, when the parties executed a Consent Judgment in Moore v. American Biltrite, Inc., et al.  In this enforcement action, Moore alleged that the Defendants sold vinyl sheet flooring containing the phthalate chemical butyl benzyl phthalate (“BBP”) in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings. 

As part of the settlement, the Defendants agreed not to manufacture or sell any vinyl sheet flooring in California after December 31, 2013, unless the flooring contains less than 1,000 parts per million of BBP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  If despite reasonable commercial efforts, the defendants are unable to meet the reformulation deadline by December 31, 2013, a defendant may extend the compliance deadline by electing to pay an additional civil penalty.  Should the Defendants provide written certification that all vinyl sheet flooring sold in California is reformulated by October 15, 2014, Moore agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.  In lieu of further civil penalties, the Defendants agreed to make a cy pres payment to Silent Spring Institute, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to identifying the links between exposure to environmental chemicals (including BBP) and reproductive and developmental harm.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $400,000, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, the reformulation extension penalty, the cy pres payment, and compensation to whistleblower Moore and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.