Home Depot fined $1.6M for allegedly selling environmentally harmful refrigerant in Washington

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The Washington State Department of Ecology has fined The Home Depot Inc. $1.6 million for allegedly selling banned products containing environmentally harmful hydrofluorocarbons despite local regulations.

The suit was filed after Department of Ecology officials spent two years asking the multinational corporation to comply with state laws and cease its sales of hydrofluorocarbon products in Washington, the agency says.

"HFCs are powerful greenhouse gasses used mainly for refrigeration and air conditioning, and they can leak into the atmosphere if equipment is faulty or damaged," the Department of Ecology stated in a press release. "When that happens, HFCs have hundreds to thousands of times the global warming impact of carbon dioxide."

The Washington Legislature passed laws in 2019 and 2021 to phase out the use of hydrofluorocarbons and bring manufacturers into compliance. While "most businesses voluntarily updated their websites and sales practices," the Department of Ecology said, The Home Depot continued to sell an automotive HFC refrigerant known as R-134a.

The agency said it made "multiple efforts" to bring The Home Depot into compliance between 2001 and 2003. However, Washington customers continued to purchase 1,058 units of the prohibited products through the Home Depot website during this time.

"In addition to continued outreach, Ecology hosted technical assistance meetings with The Home Depot’s website software and compliance teams in 2022 and was assured that the identified products would not be available for purchase in Washington and that no new prohibited products would be added to the website," the Department of Ecology said.

The Home Depot faced penalties as high as $10.5 million for the illegal sales, under Washington State law. However, the Department of Ecology reduced the fines to $1,500 per violation after the Home Depot disclosed the number of R-134a products sold. 

Home Depot was given 30 days to appeal the penalty to Washington’s Pollution Control Hearings Board. The company declined to comment on the pending litigation.