Litigation-PFAS

Litigation

Judge Allows POTWs To Intervene In Suit Seeking PFAS Limits In Biosolids

A federal judge is allowing publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) to intervene in litigation seeking to force EPA to set limits for PFAS in biosolids, finding that if environmentalists prevail, the POTWs will face increased costs for biosolids management but the agency may not adequately represent their interests. The Dec. 16 ruling from Judge Dabney Friedrich of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia also grants permission for POTWs, represented by the National Association of Clean Water Agencies...

Georgia Ruling Underscores Difficulty Identifying Specific PFAS Injuries

A federal judge in Georgia has denied a plaintiff’s request for injunctive relief in a potential class action PFAS contamination suit, finding the plaintiff could not sufficiently establish standing through specific injuries and spotlighting the difficulties of addressing PFAS through legal action, in part due to the chemicals’ ubiquitous nature. The Dec. 10 ruling in Jarrod Johnson v. 3M Company, et al ., by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia acknowledges per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)...

District Judge Remands Connecticut PFAS Cleanup Suit To State Court

A federal district court judge has granted Connecticut’s motion to remand cleanup litigation against PFAS manufacturers to state court, joining other similar rulings in finding a state’s disclaimer against pursuing relief for contamination from firefighting foam is enough to defeat 3M’s bid to move the litigation to federal court. The Dec. 17 decision in Connecticut v. EIDP, et al. comes a little over a month after Senior Judge Stefan Underhill of the U.S. District Court for the District of...

Mohawk Suit May Signal Push By Downstream Firms To Recoup PFAS Costs

Carpet manufacturers’ recently filed lawsuit against PFAS manufacturers citing fraud and other tort claims may signal a new push by downstream companies that used the chemicals in their products to pursue chemical makers in third-party litigation in order to recoup PFAS cleanup costs they are incurring. Mohawk Industries, Inc. and its affiliated carpet manufacturers with facilities including those in and around Dalton, GA, last month filed suit against 3M, DuPont, The Chemours Company and Daikin America, Inc. -- all manufacturers...

Ohio Firefighter Urges Court To Reject Industry ‘Delay Tactic’ In PFAS Suit

An Ohio firefighter seeking class-action status for a refiled lawsuit against PFAS manufacturers is asking a federal district court to reject an attempt by the defendants to dismiss the case, contending the defendants’ latest move is another “delay tactic” that resurrects arguments for dismissal such as lack of standing that the court has previously rejected. “The present motion is simply the latest move in the never-ending, carefully choreographed scheme by Defendants 3M Company (‘3M’), EIDP, Inc. (‘DuPont’), and The Chemours...

Texas Suit Alleges 3M, DuPont Hid Risks Of PFAS In Consumer Products

Texas is suing 3M and DuPont for allegedly misrepresenting the safety of their PFAS-containing consumer products, claiming the manufacturers failed to disclose known health and environmental harms from their products and signaling continued bipartisan concern about PFAS. The Texas suit filed in state court is similar to litigation brought by other states seeking to hold manufacturers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) responsible not only for contamination from PFAS-containing firefighting foam but also from the impacts of PFAS in consumer...

Citizens Plan To Sue FDA For Failing To Act On PFAS Tolerances Petition

Citizen petitioners have notified the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) that they plan to sue the agency for failing to act on a petition filed more than a year ago seeking temporary tolerance levels for residues of more than two dozen PFAS in various foods including lettuce, blueberries, milk and eggs, contending FDA has unreasonably delayed acting. The AVA Law Group, on behalf of an environmental justice group and others, Nov. 22 submitted a litigation notice and evidence preservation demand...

Environmentalists Sue Chemours Over Alleged PFAS Discharge Violations

A West Virginia environmental group has filed suit against The Chemours Company for its alleged continuing violations of discharge limits for two PFAS required by its Clean Water Act (CWA) permit, in an effort to step in to enforce the limits through a citizen suit in the absence of EPA enforcement action. West Virginia Rivers Coalition Inc. Dec. 5 filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia against Chemours, a per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances...

New Mexico Urges 10th Circuit To Keep PFAS Permit Suit In State Court

New Mexico is urging a federal appeals court to uphold a lower court ruling that state courts have jurisdiction over challenges to its ability to regulate PFAS in a waste permit absent EPA action, charging that amendments to federal waste law waiving sovereign immunity supersede the Air Force’s right to have its claims heard by federal courts. Additionally, New Mexico argues the Air Force’s appeal of United States v. New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), et al. to the U.S...

Industry, DOD Question Non-AFFF PFAS Exposures In Liability Fights

PFAS manufacturers and the Defense Department (DOD) are raising questions about whether PFAS-containing firefighting foam that contaminated drinking water sources is the cause of health issues for people who live near military bases, pointing instead to potential occupational or consumer exposures in legal and other liability fights. The answers to these questions about how and where individuals have been exposed to PFAS have significant financial liability implications for PFAS manufacturers and the military that are playing out in legal proceedings...

Judge Approves Water Providers’ $1 Billion PFAS Deals With Tyco, BASF

The federal judge overseeing multidistrict litigation (MDL) involving PFAS contamination claims tied to firefighting foam has given final approval to a pair of class action settlements between water providers and two companies that were involved in making and selling the foam that total over $1 billion. In a pair of Nov. 22 orders, Judge Richard Gergel of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina approved agreements where Tyco Fire Products agrees to pay $750 million to drinking...

6th Circuit Upholds Remand Of Airport PFAS Cleanup Case To State Court

A federal appeals court has ruled that a first-in-the-nation state enforcement case against a commercial airport over the cleanup of PFAS releases should be heard in state court, rejecting the airport’s claim that it was “acting under” the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) when it used PFAS-containing firefighting foam and depriving it of a way to pursue cleanup costs from the federal government. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit ruled Nov. 22 in Michigan...

Judge Skeptical Of Connecticut’s Ability To Apportion PFAS Contamination

A federal district court judge appeared skeptical during recent oral argument that Connecticut will be able to easily apportion PFAS contamination to identify what came from aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) and what came from other sources, an issue that 3M has argued supports its position that the state’s cleanup litigation belongs in federal court. To date, federal judges have mainly sided with states in finding that their claims for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination stemming from non-AFFF sources should...

New Mexico Weighs Legal Options On PFAS If EPA Retreats On RCRA Rules

New Mexico is evaluating its legal options should the incoming Trump EPA fail to regulate PFAS under the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA), an action the Biden administration had promised in response to a 2021 petition from New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) to list all PFAS as RCRA “hazardous waste.” “We believe we have a cause of action that the law would support, and we are evaluating how we want to exercise that cause of action,” New...

Passive Receivers, Industry Seek To Bolster Challenge To CERCLA Rule

Manufacturing groups and so-called passive receivers are seeking to bolster legal arguments by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other industry groups that the cost estimates for EPA’s landmark Superfund PFAS rule were flawed and that the rule lacks a clearly articulated standard. The parties seeking amici curiae status in Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, et al. v. EPA though are split over whether the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia...

Michigan High Court Weighs Arguments Over State’s PFAS Water Standards

Michigan’s highest court heard oral argument Nov. 13 in a PFAS drinking water rule case that could have broad implications for how the state considers compliance costs in its rulemaking process, although questions from one justice raised the possibility the court could find this specific dispute moot. The Michigan Supreme Court’s panel of seven justices listened to oral argument in 3M Company v. Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) , where lower state courts invalidated EGLE’s drinking...

Industry Asks Wisconsin High Court To Uphold Ruling Striking PFAS Listing

Industry parties are contending that Wisconsin’s highest court should uphold a landmark ruling that invalidated state regulators’ “hazardous substance” listing for PFAS and other emerging contaminants under the Wisconsin Spills Law, charging that regulators should have formally adopted rulemakings on the listing and related actions with an opportunity for public comment. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) “may not apply the [state’s] Spills Law to a vague, broad group of ‘emerging contaminants’ without using notice-and-comment rulemaking first,” says a...

3M Cites 1st Circuit Decision In Fight Over Connecticut PFAS Suit Venue

3M is continuing to cite a recent federal appellate decision rejecting Puerto Rico’s argument that a case over insulin prices should be heard in local court to bolster its stance that PFAS contamination suits from states should be heard in federal court, now targeting Connecticut’s suit that is still awaiting a district court ruling on the appropriate venue for the case. In a Nov. 5 letter to the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, 3M argues per- and...

Industry Urges Court To Vacate PFAS CERCLA Rule, Citing Multiple Flaws

Industry groups are asking a federal appeals court to vacate EPA’s landmark rule designating two PFAS as Superfund “hazardous substances,” arguing in their opening brief that the agency misinterpreted the law’s threshold bar that requires a showing of “substantial danger” for its first-time listings and provided a “fundamentally flawed” cost analysis. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and six other groups representing manufacturing and waste/recycling sectors filed their opening brief Nov. 4 in Chamber of Commerce of the United States of...

MDL Judge Orders ‘Systematic’ Discovery On PFAS Product Identification

The judge overseeing PFAS multidistrict litigation (MDL) is ordering the parties to develop a plan for focused discovery on the extent to which PFAS contamination from aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) can be tied to specific products, an issue that could help determine whether defendants face liability for a wide variety of claims. “The time for a systematic investigation of product identification at sites contaminated with AFFF has now arrived,” Judge Richard Gergel of the U.S. District Court for the District...

Pages

Not a subscriber? Request 30 days free access to exclusive environmental policy reporting.