Newsletter RSS

Mealey's Toxic Torts

  • January 17, 2025

    Couple Sues 3M, DuPont And Others For Cancer From Water Tainted With PFAS, AFFF

    SPOKANE, Wash. — A couple sued the 3M Co. and E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. in Washington federal court on Jan. 16, alleging that they are liable for contaminating the couple’s groundwater and with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are an ingredient in the firefighting agent known aqueous film forming foam (AFFF), and contending that the chemicals caused the husband to develop cancer.

  • January 16, 2025

    FDA Sets Action Levels For Lead In Processed Baby Food

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced action levels for lead in processed baby food, calling for 10 parts per billing (ppb) or 20 ppb, depending on the type of food.  The FDA’s action levels are not legally enforceable responsibilities; rather, they are recommendations based on the FDA’s current thinking on the topic of reducing lead in food for babies and young children, the agency said.

  • January 16, 2025

    Abandoned Wells, Groundwater Case Is Valid Based On Fraud Allegation, Judge Says

    DENVER — A federal judge in Colorado has denied two motions to dismiss a lawsuit over abandoned hydraulic fracturing wells that the plaintiffs contend pose a threat to human health and have the potential to contaminate groundwater, ruling that the plaintiffs have “sufficiently alleged fraud with particularity” against the company and its principals.

  • January 16, 2025

    3M: Connecticut PFAS Case Should Be Stayed Pending 2nd Circuit Appeal

    HARTFORD, Conn. — The 3M Co. has moved in Connecticut state court seeking a stay of the state’s lawsuit against it and E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. for contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) pending 3M’s appeal of the federal judge’s order that remanded the case to state court, arguing that the case should not proceed until the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has a chance to decide whether the case will be litigated in federal court.

  • January 16, 2025

    Couple Seeks Judgment On Right To Recover CERCLA Costs For AFFF Contamination

    CHARLESTON, S.C. — A married couple that runs a dairy farm has moved for leave to file a motion for partial summary judgment in the litigation over contamination from the firefighting agent known as aqueous film forming foam (AFFF), which contains per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), contending that they are entitled to recover the costs associated with compliance requirements related to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act.

  • January 15, 2025

    Petitioner Asks High Court To Correct ‘Faulty Methodology’ In Drinking Water Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A power plant management company has filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate monitoring of underground injection wells with regard to groundwater under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), arguing that, in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling that overturned Chevron deference, it should “correct the Ninth Circuit’s faulty methodology and provide guidance” to courts “faced with similar claims of agency authority derived from the absence of express statutory limitations.”

  • January 15, 2025

    Seattle Jury Awards $100M To 4 Plaintiffs In School PCB Case Against Monsanto

    SEATTLE — A jury in Washington state on Jan. 14 awarded four plaintiffs a total of $100 million in compensatory and punitive damages against Monsanto Co. in a trial over injuries allegedly caused by exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at a Seattle-area school.  The plaintiffs had sought $4.14 billion in punitive damages.

  • January 14, 2025

    Judge Dismisses Chloroprene Counterclaim, Says D.C. Circuit Has Jurisdiction

    NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge in Louisiana has granted the U.S. government’s motion to dismiss an amended counterclaim filed by a defendant chemical company in an injury lawsuit involving carcinogenic chloroprene emissions from neoprene manufacturing operations, ruling that the chemical company’s argument that the district court has jurisdiction to review the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s action would “nullify Congress’ choice” to assign the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to review Clean Air Act (CAA) actions, whether the EPA acted lawfully or not.

  • January 14, 2025

    Mother Seeks $1.5M For Daughter’s Legionella Death Tied To Flint Water Crisis

    DETROIT — The mother of a deceased woman has moved for approval of a $1.5 million settlement for the daughter’s wrongful death from Legionella exposure at a Flint, Mich., hospital that occurred in the wake of the lead-contaminated water crisis in that city.

  • January 14, 2025

    Michigan Attorney General Says Civil Rights Case Over Flint Water Indictment Fails

    DETROIT — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has moved to dismiss a lawsuit against her filed by a former state official related to his criminal prosecution in connection with the Flint water crisis on grounds that she was not personally involved in the criminal cases that stemmed from the lead contamination that ensued after the city of Flint switched its water supply in 2014.

  • January 13, 2025

    U.S. High Court Refuses To Hear Cancer Cluster Appeal

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 13 refused to hear a petition brought by residents whose children were victims of a cancer cluster, which the plaintiffs claimed was caused by soil and groundwater that was contaminated with radiation from a facility owned and operated United Technologies Corp. and Pratt & Whitney Group.

  • January 10, 2025

    Equity Firms Say Jurisdiction Lacking In California Ethylene Oxide Injury Case

    LOS ANGELES — Two private equity firm defendants in an ethylene oxide (EtO) injury case related to a commercial sterilization facility have filed a reply brief in California state court arguing that the court should grant their motion to quash service of the summons in the case because they are investment advisory firms lacking the “minimum contacts” with the state required for the court to exercise personal jurisdiction over them.

  • January 09, 2025

    Judge: Landlords Were Not Given Time To Remedy Lead Hazard After Receiving Notice

    BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A state court judge in New York denied plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment on their negligence claim against their landlords for the alleged lead poisoning of their child, ruling that the evidence did not show that the landlords were provided sufficient time to remedy the hazardous lead paint condition after receiving notice.

  • January 07, 2025

    Suit Seeking Coverage For AFFF Claims Dismissed In Favor Of First-Filed Suit

    CHARLESTON, S.C. — An insured’s suit seeking coverage from three of its insurers for underlying lawsuits related to the insured’s manufacture, sale and distribution of aqueous film-forming foams (AFFF) must be dismissed in favor of a similar suit filed by the insured in California because the California suit was filed prior to the insured’s South Carolina federal court suit, a South Carolina federal judge said in granting a motion to dismiss by the insurers.

  • January 06, 2025

    Special Counsel In New Jersey PFAS Settlement Seek More Than $36.7M In Fees

    WOODBURY, N.J. — The special counsel to the New Jersey attorney general and the plaintiffs filed a motion in New Jersey state court seeking $36,705,834.80 in attorney fees for their work in reaching a $392,781,963.69 settlement to resolve the state’s lawsuit for cleanup and removal costs from contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

  • January 03, 2025

    Georgia County Sues Makers Of PFAS For Polluting Local Groundwater

    LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — A municipality in Georgia has sued E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., the 3M Co. and others in state court, contending that they are liable for polluting its groundwater because carpet-treatment products that contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been disposed of in the county’s landfill, and PFAS “migrate daily into the waters of the State of Georgia in stormwater runoff, landfill ‘juice’ called leachate.”

  • January 03, 2025

    Man Sues Samsung For Selling Smartwatch Bands He Says Contain PFAS

    LOS ANGELES — A man has filed a putative class action against Samsung Electronics America Inc. in California federal court contending that it is liable for fraud and the violation of various consumer laws because the bands for several of its smartwatches “contain excessive levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS),” which the man says misleads consumers and causes them to “overpay for Products that do not deliver advertised benefits and to forego safe alternatives available on the market.”

  • January 02, 2025

    DuPont Affiliates Object To Group’s Bid To Add Them To PFAS Drinking Water Case

    BOSTON — E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. and its affiliates, which are nonparties in a lawsuit over drinking water contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), have filed a brief in Massachusetts federal court arguing that the Newark Group, one of the defendants in the case, should not be allowed to add the DuPont entities as additional defendants because they never sent any PFAS-tainted waste to the Massachusetts town where the plaintiffs live.

  • January 02, 2025

    After More Than 4 Years, Judge Lifts Stay In Perchlorate Drinking Water Case

    NEW YORK — More than four years after staying a case brought by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) regarding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s lack of regulation for perchlorate in drinking water, a federal judge in New York has issued an order stating that the parties have consented to the district court’s lifting of the stay.

  • January 02, 2025

    Evidence Is ‘Insufficient’ To Link Paraquat To Parkinson’s Disease, Report Says

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) released a preliminary report on Dec. 30 about potential human health outcomes related to exposure to the pesticide paraquat, determining that overall there are “data gaps relative to impacts to the thyroid and birth defects that may be linked to adverse impacts from the use of paraquat,” and, with respect to an alleged link between paraquat exposure and Parkinson’s disease, “there is currently insufficient evidence to demonstrate a direct causal association with paraquat exposure and the increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.”

  • January 02, 2025

    Multiple Glyphosate Injury Cases Sent To Roundup MDL

    SAN FRANCISCO — Multiple cases brought against Monsanto Co. alleging injuries from exposure to glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup, were transferred to California federal court on Dec. 31.  In one of the complaints, which is indicative of the others, Gene Kelly alleges that Monsanto is liable for damages based on “wrongful conduct and negligence” related to the manufacture and marketing of Roundup.

  • January 02, 2025

    Woman Says ‘Wanton Acts’ Related To Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Caused Her Cancer

    MOBILE, Ala. — A woman with cancer who alleges that her injury was caused by exposure to toxic substances due to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill sued BP Exploration & Production Inc. and its affiliates in Alabama federal court, seeking compensatory and punitive damages for “reckless and/or willful and wanton acts.”

  • December 23, 2024

    Florida Federal Judge Allows 5 Rebuttal Experts In Toxic Exposure Case

    ORLANDO, Fla. — “Disagreement with an expert’s premises is classic cross-examination fodder” and not grounds for exclusion under Federal Rule of Evidence 702, a federal judge in Florida noted in an order denying five motions to exclude filed in an environmental contamination case.

  • 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.