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Mealey's Toxic Torts

  • December 20, 2024

    DuPont: PFAS Class Should Be Decertified Because Key Parts Of Case Have Changed

    WILMINGTON, N.C. — E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. has filed a brief in North Carolina federal court contending that a class action brought by residents pertaining to alleged contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) should be decertified because “over the course of the last year, several of the key premises advanced by Plaintiffs and relied on by this Court as the cornerstones for class certification have been revealed to be either no longer true, or never having been true.”

  • December 19, 2024

    Panel Says Man Failed To Show Causation For His Alleged Chemical Exposure Injuries

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that a man claiming that he was injured by chemical exposure in the course of his work making a delivery of chemicals to a paper factor failed to establish medical causation and therefore the case was properly dismissed.

  • December 19, 2024

    Judge Sends PFAS Case Back To Connecticut State Court On Jurisdictional Grounds

    NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A federal judge in Connecticut has remanded to state court a case brought by the state of Connecticut against E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. for contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), ruling that the state has disclaimed relief relating to any contamination arising on federal enclaves; therefore, the state’s claims arise “exclusively on nonfederal land” and as a result federal jurisdiction does not exist.

  • December 19, 2024

    Attorney Closes Contentious PCB Trial Calling For $4.14B In Punitive Damages

    SEATTLE — Closing arguments in a lawsuit alleging injuries from exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at a Seattle area school concluded Dec. 18 in Washington state court, with plaintiffs’ counsel asking for $4.14 billion in punitive damages against Monsanto Co. for “generational harm” and Monsanto’s attorney objecting to that term while insisting that the evidence presented over the two-month trial is “inconsistent with the plaintiffs’ theory of Monsanto’s conduct.”

  • December 18, 2024

    Government Seeks Exclusion Of Another Witness In Flint Water Tort Claims Act Case

    DETROIT — The U.S. government on Dec. 17 filed a reply brief in Michigan federal court calling for the exclusion of yet another plaintiffs’ expert witness in the $722.4 million Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) lawsuit against the government related to the lead-contaminated water crisis in Flint, Mich., this time on grounds that a doctor’s “lack of medical training disqualifies her from offering testimony that would speculate about the etiologies” of the plaintiffs’ alleged physical conditions related to the contaminated water. 

  • December 17, 2024

    Plaintiffs Challenge Jurisdiction In Dismissal Of Drinking Water Case Claims

    FORT WAYNE, Ind. — A group of plaintiffs asserting claims of personal injury from exposure to trichloroethylene, vinyl chloride, benzene and other chemicals in their drinking water have asked a federal judge in Indiana to alter or amend an opinion and order dismissing three claims for relief, stating that there is no subject matter jurisdiction because the judge concluded that the plaintiffs lack standing.

  • December 17, 2024

    School: Monsanto ‘Squandered’ Discovery Order Extension, Another Is Not Warranted

    BURLINGTON, Vt. — The Burlington School District (BSD) on Dec. 16 filed a brief in Vermont federal court contending that Monsanto Co. “squandered” the extra time it was granted as part of an extension of discovery in the BSD’s lawsuit alleging contamination from polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and that the district court should deny Monsanto’s motion for another extension.

  • December 16, 2024

    Payment To Lead Abatement Fund Is Not Damages, Ohio Supreme Court Says

    COLUMBUS, Ohio — An Ohio appellate court erred in determining that an insured’s obligation to contribute to a lead paint abatement fund constitutes damages under insurance policies because the payment to the abatement fund was ordered to prevent future harm to children’s health from lead paint and does not constitute damages under insurance policies, the Ohio Supreme Court said in reversing the appellate court’s ruling and reinstating a trial court’s ruling.

  • December 16, 2024

    City Says Residents Fail To Assert Constitutional Claims In Jackson Water Case

    NEW ORLEANS — The city of Jackson, Miss., which is accused of contaminating the local drinking water supply with lead, has filed an appellee brief in the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that the lower court correctly held that the plaintiffs do not state constitutional violations in their complaint and that the individually named city defendants are entitled to qualified immunity.

  • December 13, 2024

    Equity Firms Are Subject To Jurisdiction In Ethylene Oxide Case, Plaintiffs Say

    LOS ANGELES — Individuals who are suing the operators of a commercial sterilization facility alleging injury from exposure to ethylene oxide (EtO) filed a brief in California state court opposing a motion to quash service of the summons in the case filed by two of the defendants that are private equity firms, arguing that by virtue of owning and controlling the company running the facility, the firms have engaged in activities that support both general and specific jurisdiction in California.

  • December 12, 2024

    Legislators Renew Push For Embattled Attorney Steven Donziger To Be Pardoned

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The push to obtain a pardon for embattled environmental attorney Steven R. Donziger, who was embroiled in a litigation saga related to an $18.5 billion verdict he obtained against Chevron Corp. for its pollution of indigenous communities in Ecuador, picked up steam on Dec. 11 when U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., joined by more than 30 of his legislative colleagues, sent a letter on Donziger’s behalf to President Joseph R. Biden Jr.  In an interview, McGovern told Mealey Publications that Chevron “with all of its assets, its endless wealth and its legal team weaponized the U.S. justice system.”

  • December 12, 2024

    Texas Sues PFAS Makers For Profiting ‘Immensely’ Through Deceptive Trade Practices

    CLEBURNE, Texas — Texas sued 3M Co. and other makers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in state court on Dec. 11, arguing that they manufactured and marketed consumer products that contain PFAS and “profited immensely” while they knew that the products posed risks to human health and the environment.

  • December 12, 2024

    Government Insists Experts For Flint Plaintiffs In Tort Case Should Be Excluded

    DETROIT — The U.S. government has filed a reply brief in Michigan federal court arguing that it should exclude the testimonies of two of the plaintiffs’ experts in the $722.4 million Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) lawsuit against the government related to the lead-contaminated water crisis in Flint, Mich., because in their opinions they draw “inadmissible legal conclusions.”

  • December 11, 2024

    Judge: PFAS Defendant Must Produce Witness To Address Corporate Events After 2002

    CHARLESTON, S.C. — A federal judge in South Carolina on Dec. 10 issued an order pertaining to all cases in the multidistrict litigation for the firefighting agent known as aqueous film forming foam (AFFF), which contains per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), directing one of the defendants in the case to prepare and produce a witness to speak for the corporation pursuant to a notice of deposition under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 30(b)(6) on events that took place after 2002.

  • December 11, 2024

    DuPont Wants Special Master’s Order Blocking Discovery In PFAS Case Reversed

    TRENTON, N.J. — EIDP Inc., formerly E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., and its affiliates filed a reply brief in New Jersey federal court on Dec. 10, arguing that it should reverse an order issued by the special master in the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) groundwater contamination case brought against the companies by the state of New Jersey because, contrary to the special master’s ruling, the declaration of a New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) fails to satisfy the requirements of invoking the deliberative process privilege.

  • December 10, 2024

    EPA Finalizes Rules That Ban Toxic Chemical Solvents, Require Worker Protections

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has finalized risk management rules that ban use of the toxic chemicals trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE) and require worker protections under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

  • December 10, 2024

    French Cosmetics Maker Says Hair Relaxer Case Fails For Lack Of Jurisdiction

    CHICAGO — French cosmetics manufacturer L’Oreal SA has filed a brief supporting a motion to dismiss in Illinois federal court, arguing that a toxic chemical injury lawsuit against it connected to hair relaxer products should be rejected because the company “does not belong in this case” and U.S. courts lack jurisdiction over the company.

  • December 06, 2024

    Jury Hands Medical Device Company A Win In Ethylene Oxide Wrongful Death Case

    PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania state court jury on Dec. 6 handed down a verdict in favor of a medical device company in a lawsuit brought by a widow who contended that the company’s use of ethylene oxide (EtO) at a facility where it sterilizes medical instruments caused her husband’s wrongful death.

  • December 06, 2024

    Residents Say 3M Is Liable For ‘Wanton’ Conduct That Tainted Water With PFAS

    MADISON, Wis. — Residents have filed a putative class action against 3M Co. in Wisconsin federal court seeking punitive damages for groundwater contamination they say is the result of  “willful, wanton, malicious, and/or reckless conduct” in connection with 3M’s operation of a quarry and a facility where roofing shingles containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been created and disposed of for decades.

  • December 05, 2024

    Pennsylvania Court Affirms Sanctions In Fracking Case For ‘Egregious Conduct’

    HARRISBURG, Pa. — In an unreported opinion, a Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court panel has ruled that “although unprecedented, there is more than enough evidence of egregious conduct” establishing “bad faith, harassment, unwarranted delaying tactics, and outright lying” by the attorney representing landowners in a hydraulic fracturing dispute such that the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board’s (EHB) award of sanctions against the attorney and the landowners jointly was warranted.

  • December 02, 2024

    Deadlines For Remand Filings Set In Exxon Single-Use Plastics Pollution Cases

    SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California has set a filing and briefing schedule for motions to remand state court two related cases against Exxon Mobil Corp. that accuse the company of creating a public nuisance and violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and a barrage of state pollution laws by manufacturing single-use plastics that it allegedly misrepresented as recyclable while annually earning billions dollars from sales.

  • November 27, 2024

    States, Energy Companies Tell D.C. Circuit EPA Methane Rule Violates Federal Law

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Multiple states have filed a brief in the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that the “presumptive standards” for existing sources listed in the 2024 methane rule instituted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency violate the Clean Air Act (CAA) and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) by “diminishing the States’ statutory authority” to create their own plans that consider their specific circumstances, including “the remaining useful life” of chemical facilities within their borders.  The same day, members of the energy sector also filed a brief contending that the EPA’s standard is “unlawful and arbitrary and capricious.”

  • November 27, 2024

    Jurisdiction Lacking In Chloroprene Emissions Case, Government Says

    NEW ORLEANS — The U.S. government has filed a reply brief in Louisiana federal court arguing that the court lacks jurisdiction over an amended counterclaim filed by a defendant chemical company in an injury lawsuit involving carcinogenic chloroprene emissions from neoprene manufacturing operations because Congress expressly granted courts of appeals exclusive jurisdiction to review final actions of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

  • November 26, 2024

    After Winning, Monsanto Says $185M PCB Ruling Created ‘Frankenstein’s Monster’

    SEATTLE — After getting a $185 million verdict against it for injuries from exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at a Seattle area school overturned, Monsanto Co. filed a supplemental brief in the Washington Supreme Court contending that it should affirm the lower court’s ruling “except insofar as it held that Missouri punitive damages law applies.”  Monsanto contends that the appellate court’s decision combined Washington and Missouri law and created “a previously unknown Frankenstein’s monster that reflects the policies of neither Washington nor Missouri and yields a windfall recovery” by “grafting Missouri’s punitive damages remedy — gutted of its protections for defendants — onto Washington’s generous rules of liability.”

  • November 26, 2024

    6th Circuit Remands Airport PFAS Case, Says Federal Jurisdiction Is Lacking

    CINCINNATI — In an unpublished opinion, a panel of the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed a lower court’s order that remanded a lawsuit over contamination from firefighting foam that contains per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) related to the use of the foam at Gerald R. Ford International Airport, ruling that the airport’s compliance with federal regulations, “even when mandatory and detailed, does not satisfy the ‘acting under’ requirement” needed to establish federal jurisdiction.