As You Sow v. J.W. Harris Company, Inc., et al.

A Consent Judgment in the As You Sow v. J.W. Harris Company, Inc., et al. matter, heard in the Marin County Superior Court was entered on December 26, 1995. The Consent Judgment resolved private enforcer As You Sow's allegations that the defendant J.W. Harris Company, Inc. ("JW") sold solvents containing toluene, methylene chloride, nickel, cobalt, chromium and lead (hereinafter "products") in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, JW agreed not to knowingly sell in California products unless such products contain Health Hazard warning labels as prescribed in the Consent Judgment, and JW further agreed to revise the material safety data sheets pertaining to each of the products on or before February 1, 1996, to include the applicable warning language.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $39,500, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which were paid to California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and compensation to whistleblower As You Sow and their counsel for the successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest. Furthermore, the Consent Judgment required that JW pay $33,800 in restitution to As You Sow, which was forwarded by As You Sow to the following funding groups: (1) Citizens for a Better Environment, a public interest organization using technical research, policy advocacy, legal action, grassroots organizing and public education to prevent pollution hazards and promote sustainable urban communities; (2) The Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, a group composed of public interest attorneys specializing in environmental laws; (3) The Data Center, a nationally recognized clearinghouse of information regarding environmental performance and toxics reduction efforts; (4) The Family health Foundation of Alviso, a nonprofit community health center which provides the residents and the business community of Alviso, California, with health education relating to the hazards of exposure to toxins; and (5) The As You Sow Proposition 65 Toxic Exposure Research Fund, a fund supporting research concerning potential exposure to chemicals listed pursuant to Proposition 65.