Oil and Chemical Distributors

Since the 1970s, the chemical industry has been recognized as a source of considerable environmental harm. Byproducts of chemical manufacturing include chromium compounds, diisocyanate, polycyclic aromatic compounds, manganese, and nickel, and the finished products frequently contain these chemicals.   The oil industry has created similar issues with consumer products.  Consumers have a right to know.

The Chanler Group has helped enforce California's Occupational Safety and Health Communication Standard (HazCom), the Unfair Trade Practices Act, and California’s Proposition 65 among numerous major chemical manufacturers and oil distributors. In over 60 toxic enforcement cases against multinational chemical giants such as Ashland Chemical, Monsanto, J.W. Bollom, Pratt & Lambert (a division of Sherwin Williams), Varn Products, and Van Waters & Rogers (a division of Univar), The Chanler Group has helped raise industry standards to protect both consumers and workers. These cases resulted in over $3 million in restitution and penalty settlements, which allowed The Chanler Group (and client As You Sow) to distribute $200,000 in much-needed funding to various California environmental groups.

The Chanler Group’s constant vigilance was rewarded in a major 1996 settlement with Ashland Chemical. The $1.1-million settlement required Ashland to mark many of their current products with the required health-hazard warnings identifying the risk of cancer, birth defects, and reproductive harm.  By reaching the source of these bulk chemicals, the warnings continue downstream to the products consumers use every day.

In the courtroom, The Chanler Group was an early and leading advocate in Proposition 65 motion practice against oil companies. The firm enforced Proposition 65's standards on behalf of their clients and the People of California in three significant rulings in favor of As You Sow against Shell Oil Company in 1996.

To review legal agreements whichThe Chanler Group’s clients have reached with companies that manufacture and sell chemical products or oil, please see the cases below: