Home Depot sued by California
counties over VOC levels
The South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD), the air pollution
control agency for Orange County and
much of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and
Riverside counties, filed a lawsuit against
The Home Depot Inc. alleging tens of
thousands of air quality violations for displaying and selling coatings and paints
that exceeded AQMD’s limits volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
District attorneys for Orange, Riverside
and San Bernardino counties and the city attorney for the City of Los Angeles have also
filed a second lawsuit related to the AQMD
case. This suit alleges that Home Depot misled customers with false information about
their products, which created an unfair business advantage over their competitors, according to AQMD’s statement.
The alleged violations of AQMD’s
Rule 1113 that prohibits the manufacture,
distribution, sale or use of non-compliant
coatings could add up to steep fines:
Home Depot could face penalties of up to
$10,000 for each violation. Under the second lawsuit in accordance with the Business and Professions Code, Home Depot
is subject to additional penalties of up to
$2,500 for each act of unfair competition
and $2,500 for each act of false and misleading advertising, AQMD says.
The AWMD filing alleges that Home
Depot sold thousands of cans of sealers,
clear wood coatings, lacquers and other
paints and coatings in violation of air quality regulations. The products containing
volatile organic compound (VOC) in excess
of AQMD’s limits were found at more than
two dozen stores, the authority alleges.
AQMD said that the products were
available at stores even after Home Depot
management had been notified of the
problem. Some of the products had been
marked down for quick sale, AQMD says.
clusive line of durable, low-odor interior
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Each collection highlights 20 coordinated
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transitions. Colors within each of the eight
HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams collec-
tions work together no matter how many
or how few are selected. The interior latex
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will be available in flat, satin and semi-
gloss finishes. It will carry the GreenSure
seal that marks the company’s high-qual-
ity, environmentally preferred coatings.
The color collections, to be showcased at
more than 2,800 neighborhood Sherwin-
Williams stores, are: Color Pizazz, Tradi-
tional Twist, Urban Organic, Global Spice,
Livable Luxe, Rustic Refined, Neutral Nu-
ance and Coastal Cool. CW
Index to Companies
This index gives the starting page for a department or feature with a signifi-
cant reference to a manufacturer of paint, coatings, adhesives and sealants.
Subsidiaries are indexed under their own names.
Sherwin-Williams, HGTV form
partnership
Sherwin-Williams has partnered with
HGTV to launche HGTV Home, an ex-
Ace Paint. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
8 | Coatings World
www.coatingsworld.com
July 2011
