WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Consumer Product Safety Commission, the federal consumer watchdog agency, said Wednesday that Black & Decker agreed to pay a $960,000 civil penalty to settle allegations it knowingly failed to report some safety problems with its Grasshog XP Weed Trimmer/Edger. In agreeing with the settlement, Black & Decker denies CPSC allegations that it knowingly violated the law. Black & Decker was acquired by Stanley Works in 2010. The combined company is now called Stanley Black & Decker and is based in New Britain, Conn. The company's power tool division remains in Black & Decker's former headquarters, Towson, Md. The CPSC says Black & Decker knew on or before May 2006 that its electric Grasshog XP GH1000, a hedge trimmer and edger that it started selling in November 2005 for about $70, was defective and could hurt people, but did not report this to the CPSC.