Mealey's Toxic Torts : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Toxic Torts

September 17, 2024
Judge Says States’ Claim That Federal Emissions Rule Is ‘Arbitrary’ Has Merit

BISMARCK, N.D. — A federal judge in North Dakota has granted a motion for a preliminary injunction enjoining implementation of a rule promulgated by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) establishing standards for methane and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions related to the oil and gas sector, ruling that at the preliminary stage the states have shown that they are likely to succeed on the merits of their claim that the rule is “arbitrary and capricious.”
September 17, 2024
No Coverage Owed For Subpoena Issued To Insured In Fire-Suppressing Foam MDL

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — No coverage is owed to an insured distributor of a fire-suppressing foam for a subpoena served on the insured in an underlying multidistrict litigation seeking damages for bodily injuries and contaminated drinking water caused by the use of the foam because the subpoena does not constitute a claim under the insurance policy at issue, a Connecticut federal judge said in denying the insured’s motion for summary judgment and in granting the insurer’s motion for summary judgment.
September 16, 2024
Judge Adds Nearly $91M In Damages To Benzene Verdict Against ExxonMobil

PHILADELPHIA — A state court judge in Pennsylvania on Sept. 13 denied ExxonMobil Corp. a new trial and instead added $90,833,561.65 in delay damages to the $725.5 million verdict a jury awarded to a man who was injured from exposure to benzene, bring his total award to $816,333,561.65.
September 16, 2024
Vermont Amends Complaint As PFAS Litigation Against DuPont, 3M Drags On

CHARLESTON, S.C. — The state of Vermont has filed an amended complaint in South Carolina federal court in the latest chapter of a long-running saga of litigation as the state seeks to recover damages from 3M Co., E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. and others it says are liable for injuries related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the state’s water supply.
September 13, 2024
Magistrate Denies Camp Lejeune Plaintiffs’ Discovery Request As ‘Overbroad’

RALEIGH, N.C. — A federal magistrate judge in North Carolina denied a motion to compel production of documents sought by the Plaintiffs’ Leadership Group (PLG) in the litigation over water contamination at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, ruling that the request for production was “overbroad and otherwise outside the scope” of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(l).
September 12, 2024
Jury Hands Monsanto A Win In Pennsylvania Glyphosate Cancer Trial

PHILADELPHIA — A jury in a Pennsylvania state court on Sept. 12 ruled in favor of Monsanto Co. in a trial for damages brought by a man who contended that he developed cancer from exposure to glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup.
September 12, 2024
Judge Allows Consumer Suit Alleging ‘Compostable’ Bags, Tableware Contain PFAS

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge on Sept. 11 granted in part and denied in part a motion to dismiss a putative class action against a compostable product maker and Target Corp. for selling tableware and food storage bags that were allegedly deceptively labeled as “compostable” when they in fact contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
September 12, 2024
9th Circuit: Monsanto’s Brief Denying Glyphosate Claims Is Now Officially Filed

SAN FRANCISCO — The clerk of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has issued an order stating that the response brief initially filed under seal in August by Monsanto Co. and Bayer CropScience LP (collectively, Monsanto) in a glyphosate cancer lawsuit is now officially filed. In the brief Monsanto argues that the plaintiff has not plausibly alleged “an unreasonable safety risk” associated with the herbicide Roundup.
September 11, 2024
Judge Finds PFAS Claims Against Drink Maker Exceed Proposition 65

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge said a consumer’s putative class action against a sports drink maker for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other statutes is not barred under the state’s Proposition 65 because her allegations of health risks caused by the presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the product exceed those covered by the regulation, but dismissed several of her claims as insufficiently pleaded.
September 11, 2024
Companies Deny Stonecutter’s Silicosis Claims From Work With Quartz Countertops

SANTA ANA, Calif. — Several defendants being sued by a worker with silicosis who says he was injured by exposure to crystalline silica while cutting quartz countertops have filed answers in California state court denying all allegations in the plaintiff’s amended complaint. One of the defendants, DAL-Tile LLC, also asserts 46 affirmative defenses, arguing that the plaintiff fails to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action against it.
September 11, 2024
5th Circuit Affirms Win For BP In Deepwater Injury Case; Expert Properly Excluded

NEW ORLEANS — A lower court did not err in excluding a man’s causation expert in a Deepwater Horizon oil spill injury case, the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled, affirming a summary judgment award in favor of BP Exploration & Production Inc. and its affiliates.
September 10, 2024
Plaintiffs Seek $162M In Attorney Fees For Ohio Train Derailment Settlement

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — The plaintiffs in the litigation over the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, which released toxic chemicals into the air and soil have moved in Ohio federal court for $162 million in attorney fees, reimbursement of $18 million in litigation costs incurred by class counsel and service awards of $15,000 to each class representative.
September 10, 2024
Judge Says DuPont Must Produce Material Held In 36 Boxes Related To PFAS Case

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A discovery referee in North Carolina has ruled that affiliates of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. (referred to as Old DuPont) must provide the state of North Carolina with discoverable information contained in 36 boxes in Old DuPont’s possession, and he ruled that Old DuPont must provide the state with copies of its document retention policies that apply to materials stored at a facility called Iron Mountain.
September 10, 2024
Judge: Groups Fail To Show Radioactive Materials Pose Irreparable Harm

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has denied declaratory and injunctive relief to advocates for public health and environmental groups that sought to stop construction of an 8-mile recreational trail through a portion of the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge that is contaminated with plutonium from the former Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant. The judge ruled that the plaintiffs “do not come close to establishing irreparable harm.”
September 09, 2024
Parties Agree To Dismiss With Prejudice Case Over Glyphosate Cancer Claims

WILMINGTON, Del. — The parties in a widow’s glyphosate cancer lawsuit against Monsanto Co., in which a Delaware state court judge previously declared a mistrial, on Sept. 6 filed a joint stipulation for dismissal of the case with prejudice. The one-paragraph stipulation did not elaborate on the reasons for the dismissal.
September 06, 2024
Panel Affirms Defense Verdict For Monsanto, Says Plaintiff’s Expert Not Qualified

ST. LOUIS — An appeals panel in Missouri has ruled that a trial court did not abuse its discretion when it excluded a plaintiff’s expert and denied a new trial sought by a man who lost his cancer case against Monsanto Co. The panel said that the expert was not qualified and that at trial the judge had instructed the jury to disregard a comment made by Monsanto, which the plaintiff said warranted a new trial.
September 04, 2024
Class Action: 3M, DuPont Hid PFAS Dangers In Carpet In ‘Concealment Enterprise’

MINNEAPOLIS — Two consumers filed a putative class action in Minnesota federal court against the 3M Co., E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., and DuPont affiliates, contending that they were fully aware of the health risks posed by stain-repellant products containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that they made and sold to carpet manufacturers and others without disclosing the toxicity of the products in what the plaintiffs call the “PFAS Concealment Enterprise.”
August 30, 2024
States Ask Supreme Court For Stay Of EPA Methane Rule, Say It Violates Federal Law

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A coalition of states has filed an application with U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. to stay the 2024 Methane Rule instituted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, arguing that it violates federal law by setting “presumptive standards” rather than merely identifying the “degree of emission limitation achievable through the application of the best system of emission reduction” and leaving it to the states to determine how to achieve that amount of reduction.
August 29, 2024
6th Circuit Reverses Ruling That Denied Immunity For Some In Drinking Water Case

CINCINNATI — In an appeal related to one of three lead-contaminated water lawsuits being litigated in Michigan federal court by residents against Benton Harbor, Mich., a divided panel of the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 28 issued an unpublished opinion in which it reversed a ruling by the judge in the federal court that denied qualified immunity to two of the defendants. The panel, however, affirmed the judge’s decision that denied qualified immunity to another defendant on grounds that the plaintiffs had sufficiently alleged a claim of municipal liability against the city’s mayor.
August 29, 2024
Judge Denies Plaintiffs’ Bid To Strike Notice Of Nonparty At Fault In Water Case

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A federal judge in Michigan has denied a motion to strike notice of a nonparty at fault in a lead-contaminated drinking water lawsuit brought by residents against Benton Harbor, Mich., ruling that the arguments raised in the motion to strike are best reserved for a motion in limine closer to the start of a trial.
August 28, 2024
Magistrate Seals Documents In PFAS Case Against DuPont And Its Affiliate

WILMINGTON, N.C. — A federal magistrate judge in North Carolina has granted a motion to seal nonpublic information, including information about business operations and strategies sought by the Chemours Co. in the long-running lawsuit brought by residents against E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. and its affiliates related to claims that they dumped per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the Cape Fear River, resulting in groundwater contamination.
August 28, 2024
Man Seeks Damages For Exposure To Toxins Related To Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

MOBILE, Ala. — A man has sued BP Exploration & Production Inc. and its affiliates in Alabama federal court seeking compensatory and punitive damages for injuries he alleges are the result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the subsequent cleanup activities performed in the Gulf of Mexico, in which he says toxic chemicals were used.
August 28, 2024
9th Circuit Says CERCLA Does Not Limit FTCA’s Misrepresentation Exception

SAN FRANCISCO — The United States is entitled to sovereign immunity from claims brought by employees of the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) who allegedly were harmed by radioactive contamination at a former U.S. Navy base that was leased to the SFPD because the claims were based on misrepresentations made by the Navy and are therefore exempt under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found in affirming a trial court’s order and rejecting the employees’ assertion that the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) limited the exemption at issue.
August 27, 2024
Flint Water Plaintiffs Say Expert’s Opinions Constitute ‘Inadmissible Hearsay’

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Bellwether III plaintiffs in the litigation over the lead-contaminated water crisis in Flint, Mich., have filed a reply brief in Michigan federal court arguing that it should rule that the opinions of one of the experts for a defendant engineering firm are “inadmissible hearsay,” and the expert’s testimony should be excluded based on the federal rules of evidence.
August 27, 2024
Investors: Norfolk Southern Broke Securities Laws Related To Ohio Train Derailment

ATLANTA — Investors have filed a brief in Georgia federal court opposing a motion to dismiss their securities fraud class action against Norfolk Southern Corp. and its principals, arguing that they have laid out in “exacting detail” that the defendants misled investors about the purported safety of the railroad’s operations while the company implemented cost-cutting procedures that “systematically dismantled critical safety measures in pursuit of profits, culminating in the derailment” of a Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine, Ohio, which resulted in toxic chemical pollution in that town.