Moore v. Environmental Technology, Inc.

On November 24, 2015, citizen enforcer John Moore and settling party Environmental Technology, Inc. (“Environmental Technology”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement.  Moore had alleged that Environmental Technology sold brass knob bases containing the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Environmental Technology agreed not to sell any brass knob bases in California after December 1, 2015, unless the knobs contain less than 90 parts per million of lead by weight in any accessible component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Should Environmental Technology provide Moore with written certification by January 15, 2016 that all brass knob bases sold in California qualify as reformulated products under the agreement, Moore agreed to waive a portion of the civil penalty that would otherwise be applied.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $34,500 divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to citizen enforcer Moore and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.