Litigation-PFAS

Litigation

Landowners Push Back On DOD Effort To Dismiss AFFF MDL Tort Claims

Property owners and other entities with land neighboring military sites are pushing back on what they say are new Defense Department (DOD) arguments aimed at dismissing their tort claims in multidistrict litigation (MDL) over PFAS contamination after the judge overseeing the suit allowed rare additional briefing. In an Oct. 29 brief , the plaintiffs sought to rebut DOD claims that their litigation rights under the Clean Water Act (CWA) are preempted by the Federal Tort Claims Act’s (FTCA) Discretionary Function...

In Test, Air Force Asks 10th Circuit To Send PFAS Permit Suit To U.S. Court

The Air Force is urging a federal appeals court to overturn a 2022 district court decision that sent its challenge of PFAS measures in a New Mexico waste permit to state court, in a case that tests whether states can regulate the chemicals in waste permits absent EPA action and where any challenges to the permits are heard. In an Oct. 28 brief in U.S. v. New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), et al. , the military service argues the lower...

Maine Urges 1st Circuit To Reject 3M’s View Of Case Backing Federal Removal

Maine is joining several other states in urging federal appellate judges to reject 3M’s latest rationale for moving state PFAS liability litigation to federal court, with Maine arguing that its “express disclaimers” for recovery related to aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) renders invalid 3M’s federal defense. The state’s arguments respond to a letter 3M wrote earlier this month to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit that pointed to its decision in Puerto Rico v. Express Scripts, Inc....

MDL Plaintiffs Reach $190 Million Deal With Bankrupt AFFF Company

Drinking water providers and airports are poised to receive a total of $190 million to resolve PFAS-contamination claims in multidistrict litigation (MDL) against a firefighting foam company that has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, if the MDL judge approves the recently announced settlements. The planned settlement is outlined in documents Kidde-Fenwal Inc. (KFI) filed with a federal bankruptcy court in Delaware and filings Carrier Global Corp. made to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), noting that drinking water providers...

Judges Press 3M, States On Scope Of PFAS Divisibility In Venue Cases

Appellate judges repeatedly questioned counsel for Maryland, South Carolina and 3M on whether PFAS from aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) and non-AFFF sources can even be distinguished, as well as each side’s argument toward whether those contamination causation questions should be heard in a federal venue. A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit heard oral argument Oct. 30 in 3M’s consolidated appeal of lower court rulings that found Maryland and South Carolina’s per- and polyfluoroalkyl...

Judges Appear Skeptical Of Airport’s Arguments In PFAS Enforcement Case

Appellate judges appeared doubtful during Oct. 29 oral argument that a first-in-the-nation enforcement case brought by Michigan against a commercial airport over PFAS cleanup belongs in federal court, questioning the airport’s contention that federal grants held by the airport are sufficient to meet the requirements of the federal officer removal law. In addition, one of the judges on a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit questioned the airport’s attorney on whether the court could...

Maryland, South Carolina Urge 4th Circuit To Reject 3M’s Latest Arguments

Maryland and South Carolina are urging a federal appeals court to reject 3M’s latest argument to remove their PFAS liability suits to federal court, reemphasizing ahead of Oct. 30 oral argument that by not seeking recovery for contamination related to aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF), 3M has no basis for its government contractor defense. The states’ rebuttal comes in response to a letter 3M wrote earlier this month to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit citing the 1st...

Wisconsin Urges State High Court To Reverse Ruling Voiding PFAS Listing

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is urging the state’s highest court to overturn a landmark ruling that struck down its “hazardous substance” listing for PFAS and other emerging contaminants under the state Spill Law, contending that upholding the decision would obstruct nearly all enforcement under the law and could halt cleanups at thousands of sites beyond just those with PFAS. The state appeals court decision, if left to stand, “would halt virtually all Spill Law enforcement,” DNR says...

New Hampshire Urges Court To Disregard 3M’s Latest Bid To Move PFAS Case

New Hampshire is urging a federal appeals court to reject 3M’s latest arguments seeking to move the state’s PFAS contamination suit to federal court, saying that the company cannot claim its federal and non-federal actions were intertwined when it made aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) products only for the government. 3M earlier this month cited Puerto Rico v. Express Scripts, Inc. , a recent ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit, to back its call for removing...

Recent PFAS Ruling Rejecting TOF Analysis Not Decisive, Attorney Warns

A defense attorney is warning companies that they should prepare defenses against using a broad screening test method measuring total organic fluorine (TOF) to demonstrate the presence of PFAS in products despite a recent federal court ruling rejecting plaintiffs’ use of TOF testing to demonstrate the presence of PFAS in tampon products. “Given the fact that targeted [per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)] analysis will only detect a small fraction of the thousands of existing PFAS, it is expected that plaintiffs...

Court Rejects Airport’s Request To Consolidate PFAS Cleanup Appeals

Michigan’s landmark suit against a commercial airport over PFAS releases stemming from firefighting foam use is slated to move forward, without delay, to oral argument later this month after a federal appeals court rejected the airport’s attempt to consolidate two rulings over the venue for the litigation. Without comment, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit issued an order Oct. 17 denying the Gerald R. Ford International Airport Authority’s (GFIAA) motion to consolidate the two identically named cases,...

3M Cites 1st Circuit Decision To Back Federal Removal In PFAS Venue Cases

3M is pointing to a recent federal appellate decision that rejected Puerto Rico’s arguments that a dispute over pharmaceutical prices should be heard in a local court to bolster the company’s argument that cases brought by New Hampshire, Maine, Maryland and South Carolina regarding PFAS contamination should be heard in federal and not state court. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit in Puerto Rico v. Express Scripts, Inc. -- which involved alleged insulin price inflation from...

Industry Seeks Dismissal Of Refiled PFAS Class Action Case In Ohio

Current and former PFAS manufacturers are urging a federal district court in Ohio to dismiss a refiled, proposed class action suit seeking medical monitoring for Ohio residents exposed to certain PFAS, arguing the case still contains major deficiencies that show the plaintiff lacks standing and fails to meet other procedural requirements for such litigation. “This case should be dismissed because Plaintiff Kevin Hardwick lacks Article III standing, has not pleaded a viable claim under Ohio law, and cannot obtain ‘equitable...

Chamber Seeks Amicus Status In Arguing PFAS Water Rule Too Costly

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is asking a federal appeals court for permission to share additional arguments backing drinking water utilities and the chemical industry’s challenge of EPA’s landmark rule regulating PFAS in drinking water, with the Chamber arguing EPA failed to properly assess costs and benefits and used deficient science to craft the rule. EPA “failed to accurately assess the likely costs and consequences of its rule,” the Chamber says in an Oct. 16 amicus brief filed in...

Judge Orders PFAS Personal Injury Plaintiffs To Show Threshold Evidence

The federal judge overseeing PFAS multidistrict litigation (MDL) has backed a joint request from plaintiff and defense attorneys to require the thousands of personal injury plaintiffs in the suit to provide additional threshold evidence supporting their allegations that exposure to the chemicals caused specific health issues. The Oct. 15 case management order (CMO) builds on existing requirements for plaintiffs in the MDL, including those who brought cases alleging personal injury damages, to provide basic information on their claims and reflects...

Water Provider Plaintiffs Seek Final Approval Of $316.5 Million BASF Deal

Water utility plaintiffs are asking a federal judge to give final approval to a $316.5 million class action settlement with BASF Corp., a key step in resolving consolidated multidistrict litigation (MDL) over PFAS contamination from firefighting foam ahead of a Nov. 1 hearing on the fairness of the proposed agreement. “The BASF Settlement Agreement for Public Water Systems . . . aligns with the pending Tyco Settlement and is yet another building block in the efforts to clean public drinking...

States Refuse To Reject Pursuing Claims Over Mixed PFAS Contamination

Maryland and South Carolina are refusing to preclude seeking recovery for PFAS contamination in areas where contamination from aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) and non-AFFF sources may have commingled, marking a difference with the concession Illinois made in a similar suit that served as the basis to successfully remand its case to state court. “The States do not so concede,” Maryland and South Carolina say in an Oct. 11 letter to the U.S. Court of Appeals in the 4th Circuit. “Nonetheless,...

Court Allows Plastics Maker To Pursue PFAS Class Certification Reversal

A federal appeals court is allowing a plastics manufacturer to pursue an interlocutory appeal of a class certification of a tort case alleging the company’s air emissions caused PFAS drinking water contamination affecting potentially thousands of people, with the manufacturer likely to argue the lower court bypassed typical strictures for crafting a class. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit Sept. 24 granted permission to Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corporation to file an interlocutory appeal of a Dec. 29,...

Michigan Opposes Airport’s Attempt To Consolidate PFAS Cleanup Appeals

The state of Michigan is pushing back against an attempt by a commercial airport to consolidate appeals of two rulings that backed keeping in state court, rather than federal court, the state’s landmark suit that seeks to force the airport to pay for cleanup of PFAS contamination related to the airport’s use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam. The first appeal -- set for oral argument on Oct. 29 before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit -- is fully...

MDL Judge Sets Trial Date For First Group Of PFAS Personal Injury Cases

The federal district court judge overseeing multidistrict litigation (MDL) over PFAS contamination from firefighting foam has set Oct. 6, 2025, as the initial date for a bellwether trial on cases tied to kidney and testicular cancer, the first of several potential rounds of personal injury bellwethers. In an Oct. 8 case management order , Judge Richard Gergel of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina outlines additional interim dates for completing discovery and deciding which of the...

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