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Tag: environmental lawsuit

  • Sephora to pay California cities for mishandling makeup mess

    Sephora, shoppers’ go-to spot for celebrity makeup brands and skincare essentials, is facing a hefty fine from California cities for alleged improper disposal of its leftover products.

    The company, accused of mishandling hazardous waste at its retail locations, will pay nearly $78,000 to Sacramento County and to several California cities and counties. According to a news release from the Sacramento County district attorney’s office, the total settlement amount is $775,000.

    “Our office is committed to protecting both the public and the environment, and we will hold companies accountable to ensure they operate responsibly and within the law,” Dist. Atty. Thien Ho said in the release.

    Following an investigation, 24 city and district attorneys across the state filed a civil enforcement action. It alleged the makeup giant was mishandling damaged, returned and expired merchandise, which is considered hazardous waste according to state law.

    The complaint alleges that the company failed to determine which items that were thrown out were used, expired, recalled or damaged and didn’t keep records of test results and waste management. The materials were also allegedly improperly managed and transported.

    The judgment, settled in Sacramento County Superior Court, includes a $550,000 charge in civil penalties, $200,000 in cost recovery and $25,000 to the Environmental Enforcement and Training Account managed by the California Environmental Protection Agency.

    Sephora started in 1969 as a small perfume shop in France. Over the years, it cemented itself as one of makeup’s main retailers, serving hundreds of millions of customers and becoming a multibillion-dollar company.

    It operates over 2,700 stores in 35 countries worldwide, with over 100 locations in California. The company is still headquartered in France, with its U.S. arm operating out of San Francisco.

    It is not the only business to face an environmental lawsuit.

    In August, United Parcel Service Inc. and its affiliates were required to pay $1.7 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the district attorneys of 45 California counties.

    That complaint alleged that UPS sent improperly labeled hazardous waste to area landfills. The suit came after a years-long investigation at 140 UPS locations in California.

    The company had to pay $1.4 million in civil penalties, $140,000 in cost reimbursement and $205,000 that will go toward supplemental environmental projects, according to officials.

    Cerys Davies

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  • Erewhon sues city to stop Sportsmen’s Lodge development in Studio City

    Erewhon sues city to stop Sportsmen’s Lodge development in Studio City

    The owners of Erewhon have filed an environmental lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles, the latest attempt by the upscale supermarket chain to stop the planned demolition of Sportsmen’s Lodge hotel in Studio City to make way for a new apartment complex.

    Erewhon operates a store next to the defunct hotel and previously joined with local residents, union officials and others in opposition to a 520-unit residential mixed use development planned to replace the inn that was known to generations of San Fernando Valley residents.

    Plans for the new development took a leap forward last month when the City Council voted 13 to 1 to deny an appeal of the project filed by Erewon’s owners and others, clearing the way for Midwood Investment & Development to demolish the aged hotel at Ventura Boulevard and Coldwater Canyon Avenue.

    Midwood is Erewhon’s landlord, having built in 2021 the Shops at Sportsmen’s Lodge, an outdoor mall where Erewhon is the anchor tenant among other stores, restaurants and an Equinox gym. The mall replaced a banquet facility that served as a local social center where couples got married and families shared big occasions such as bar mitzvahs.

    The event center and a restaurant opened in 1946 and the hotel in 1962. The hotel permanently closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The landlord got city permission to knock down the 190-room hotel and build the Residences at Sportsmen’s Lodge, which would have 520 apartments, including 78 units of subsidized affordable housing. It would include ground-floor stores and restaurants intended to meld with the Shops at Sportsmen’s Lodge.

    Prior to the recent City Council vote, Erewhon, the Studio City Residents Assn. and Unite Here Local 11, which represents hotel workers, sought to stop the project by appealing aspects of the city’s review and approval process.

    Some opponents argued that the hotel should be preserved. It was one of the first to unionize in the San Fernando Valley and one of the first union hotels in Los Angeles. Others were concerned about the project’s 97-foot height, the construction noise and the environmental impact.

    After the appeals were rejected, Erewhon’s parent company last week filed a lawsuit in Superior Court demanding that the project approvals be rescinded because the city allegedly failed to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act as well as other state and local laws. The environmental law in part is intended to increase the public’s awareness of the potential environmental effects of proposed developments and other projects.

    The city violated the act by forgoing an exhaustive Environmental Impact Report, or EIR, in favor of a less rigorous assessment, the lawsuit said.

    Proponents of the development say it would bring housing to this section of Studio City, which is being targeted for a flurry of new development. Across the river, private school Harvard-Westlake is planning to build an extensive athletic facility.

    Representatives of Erewhon and Midwood didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

    Roger Vincent

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