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

Mealey's Toxic Torts

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.
November 26, 2024
High Court To Review Delegated Oversight Of Telecommunications Subsidies

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court has granted two petitions for a writ of certiorari and consolidated cases concerning whether Congress violated the nondelegation doctrine by authorizing the Federal Communications Commission to delegate a subsidy program to a private entity, both arising out of the en banc Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling that the program violates the “private nondelegation doctrine.”
November 25, 2024
Judge Approves AFFF Drinking Water Settlements For More Than $1.06 Billion

CHARLESTON, S.C. — A federal judge in South Carolina on Nov. 22 issued two separate opinions granting final approval to two settlements, which combined are worth more than $1.06 billion, to resolve claims by municipalities and water authorities against two manufacturers related to drinking water contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the firefighting agent aqueous film forming foam (AFFF). In a separate-but-related opinion, the judge awarded attorney fees and costs of $95,791,081.51 for class counsel’s work on both settlements.
November 25, 2024
Couple Says Quartz Makers’ Concealment Makes Them Liable For Husband’s Silicosis

LOS ANGELES — A stonecutter and his wife on Nov. 22 sued the makers or quartz countertops in California state court, seeking punitive damages for allegedly breaching the general duty of care and failing to adequately warn the husband of the toxic hazards associated with the stone products he cut.
November 25, 2024
Judge Refuses To Exclude Norfolk Southern’s Expert In Ohio Train Derailment Case

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — A federal judge in Ohio has denied a motion by third-party defendant OxyVinyls LP, which sought to exclude the report of an expert for the railway company Norfolk Southern in the litigation over toxic chemical exposure from the derailment of its train in East Palestine, Ohio, ruling that the exclusion of those reports would “unfairly eliminate a critical component of Norfolk Southern’s defense.”
November 25, 2024
South Bay Residents Seek Damages From Exposure To Sewage Treatment Plant Pollution

SAN DIEGO — A group of residents in the South Bay Area filed a lawsuit in California Superior Court against the operators of a San Ysidro wastewater treatment plant, alleging ongoing exposure to untreated sewage, noxious fumes and other pollutants from the plant and seeking damages for physical injuries, property damages and more under the Clean Water Act (CWA).
November 22, 2024
COMMENTARY: 2024 Key Insurance Decisions, Trends & Developments & A Look Ahead To 2025

By Scott M. Seaman, Pedro E. Hernandez and Lisa M. Roccanova
November 22, 2024
Veteran’s Fraud Suit Related To Camp Lejeune Water Crisis Is Valid, Judge Says

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — A federal judge in North Carolina mostly denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit that a veteran filed under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and North Carolina law related to allegations that a law firm and individuals affiliated with the firm solicited him to file “a fraudulent and fictitious Camp Lejeune injury claim” with the federal government over the Camp Lejeune water crisis.
November 21, 2024
Latest Battle In Complex Saga Over Cancer Cluster Goes Before 11th Circuit

ATLANTA — An 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel heard oral arguments in long-running and complex consolidated litigation brought by plaintiffs who were injured by a cancer cluster in Florida, as attorneys for the parties debated whether the lawsuit was still viable based on a dispute over what constitutes the accrual date that triggers the applicable statute of limitations.
November 19, 2024
2 Companies To Pay More Than $23.52M For Silicosis Injury To Quartz Stonecutter

LOS ANGELES — A California judge has issued a judgment awarding a combined $23,522,788.70 against two makers of quartz countertops, which are among multiple defendants that were sued by a man who developed silicosis from working as a stonecutter who has already won $52 million in a general verdict against all of the defendants. In the same ruling, the judge granted judgment notwithstanding the verdict to another defendant.