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Mealey's Toxic Torts

  • September 16, 2025

    EPA Says Parts Of PFAS Drinking Water Rule ‘Invalid,’ Wants Them Vacated

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has moved in the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to partially vacate its rule for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water, saying that it now agrees with two drinking water providers that sued over the rule. The EPA contends that parts of the rulemaking process were unlawful, and portions of the “PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation” are “invalid” as to four types of PFAS.

  • September 16, 2025

    Benton Harbor Residents Say Water Plant Operator’s Conduct Was ‘Shocking’

    GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Residents who have sued Benton Harbor, Mich., and its officials over lead contamination in drinking water have filed a brief in Michigan federal court arguing that Benton Harbor Water Plant operator Michael O’Malley’s conduct was “deliberately indifferent and shocking,” therefore his motion for summary judgment dismissal of the lone remaining claim against him should be denied.

  • September 16, 2025

    Gasoline Companies Ask Court To Apply Prior Ruling That Excludes Some MTBE Claims

    NEW YORK — The gasoline companies that are defendants in a lawsuit brought by Pennsylvania alleging contamination of water from methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) have filed a brief in New York federal court arguing that it should apply a prior ruling in the litigation which held that the state’s claim for failure to warn could not proceed.

  • September 16, 2025

    Countertop Manufacturer Seeks Coverage For Underlying Silica Bodily Injury Suits

    LOS ANGELES — An insured manufacturer and distributor of countertops and countertop products filed suit in California state court, claiming that its insurers breached their contracts of insurance and acted in bad faith in relying on their policies’ pollution and silica exclusions to deny coverage for underlying silica-exposure bodily injury suits in which the insured is named as a defendant.

  • September 15, 2025

    3M Removes AstroTurf PFAS Case Brought By Former Pro Baseball Players’ Widows

    PHILADELPHIA — The 3M Co. on Sept. 12 removed to Pennsylvania federal court a lawsuit brought against it and other makers or suppliers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) by former players and some widows of former players for the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team who allege that the companies are liable for wrongful death and other harm due to the presence of PFAS in the artificial turf that was used for the surface of the baseball field in Veterans Stadium, the team’s former home stadium.  3M argues that the federal officer removal statute applies because the alleged PFAS contamination is linked to its manufacture of the firefighting agent aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) for the U.S. military and says the players’ alleged injuries stem from the fact that they drank local water, which is tainted with AFFF.

  • September 12, 2025

    Judge Partially Nixes Suit For Phthalate Contamination Of General Mills Products

    CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — A federal judge in New York has partially dismissed a lawsuit brought by consumers who contend that General Mills Inc. and Annie’s Homegrown deceptively marketed and labeled their Annie’s brand of macaroni and cheese products because they contain phthalates, ruling that the plaintiffs’ misrepresentation, breach of warranty and negligence per se claims fail but that claims for material omissions and unjust enrichment survive.

  • September 11, 2025

    Petitioners Say 5th Circuit ‘Plainly Erred’ In Heavy Metal Baby Food Ruling

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A baby food manufacturer and Whole Foods Market filed a reply merits brief in the U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 10 arguing that the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals “plainly erred” in holding that it was required to vacate a district court’s final judgment in a suit between diverse parties after concluding that the district court erred in dismissing Whole Foods in a dispute over allegations that the baby food maker contaminated its product with heavy metals.

  • September 11, 2025

    Groups Urge 4th Circuit To Rehear En Banc Ethylene Oxide Case Over Disputed Expert

    RICHMOND, Va. — Two groups have filed amicus curiae briefs in the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in support of a petition for rehearing en banc sought by Union Carbide following a split opinion reversing a lower court’s ruling that had granted summary judgment on standing to Union Carbide in a lawsuit over exposure to ethylene oxide (EtO). In one amicus brief, Lawyers for Civil Justice (LCJ) contend that the Fourth Circuit majority applied an incorrect legal standard related to the admissibility of an expert under Federal Rule of Evidence 702.

  • September 11, 2025

    Government: Causation Lacking In Camp Lejeune Case, Experts Fail Evidence Standard

    RALEIGH, N.C. — The U.S. government has filed a brief in support of a motion for partial summary judgment in the Camp Lejeune water crisis multidistrict litigation in North Carolina federal court arguing that the plaintiffs lack evidence supporting general causation as between exposure to dichloroethylene (DCE) and what are called Track 1 diseases. In addition to the government’s motion regarding DCE, it filed a raft of pleadings seeking to exclude multiple plaintiffs’ experts pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 702 in various individual actions that are part of the MDL.

  • September 10, 2025

    Judge Approves Nearly $600,000 In Damages For Jet Fuel Spill At Hawaii Naval Base

    HONOLULU — A federal judge in Hawaii on Sept. 9 entered judgment for 17 bellwether plaintiffs in a lawsuit over groundwater contamination from a jet fuel spill at the Pearl Harbor Naval Base, awarding a total of $598,633.15 in damages and ruling that there is “no just reason for delay” for the entry of a final judgment.

  • September 10, 2025

    Putative Class Plaintiffs Say PFAS Case Against Band-Aid Makers Is Well-Founded

    TRENTON, N.J. — Plaintiffs who filed a putative class action against Johnson & Johnson and affiliates alleging that they have been injured by the presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in Band-Aids have filed a brief in New Jersey federal court arguing that the defendants’ motion to dismiss “fails on every front, applying incorrect legal standards and ignoring well-pleaded factual allegations.”

  • September 10, 2025

    MAHA Strategy Calls For Sweeping Federal Initiatives And Agency Reorganization

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) Commission on Sept. 9 released a report outlining its strategy to enact multiple sweeping initiatives to be launched by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and others, while also calling for the “comprehensive reorganization” of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to create the Administration for a Healthy America, which the MAHA Commission calls “a new agency structure specifically designed to coordinate and lead the Federal government’s response to the chronic disease crisis through integrated prevention-focused programs and streamlined accountability for related programs.”

  • September 09, 2025

    Government Seeks To Hold In Abeyance Any CERCLA Claims Asserted In AFFF Litigation

    CHARLESTON, S.C. — The U.S. government on Sept. 8 moved in South Carolina federal court to hold in abeyance claims against the government that seek cost recovery and contribution under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) in multidistrict litigation pertaining to water contamination from the use of the firefighting agent aqueous film forming foam (AFFF). The motion was filed in the docket of a case brought by the Lakewood Water District, but the document indicates that the government intends the abeyance to apply to all MDL cases in which the government is a defendant.

  • September 09, 2025

    Nuisance Suit Against Exxon For Plastics Pollution May Proceed, Judge Says

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted Exxon Mobil Corp.’s motion to dismiss claims by environmental groups that it violated California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by manufacturing single-use plastics that it allegedly misrepresented as recyclable while earning billions of dollars from sales but denied the motion as to the plaintiffs’ public nuisance claims.

  • September 09, 2025

    Firefighters Say They Have Established Injury Claims Against Makers Of PFAS

    NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Firefighters and other plaintiffs filed a brief in Connecticut federal court arguing that they have established injury-in-fact, traceability and fraudulent concealment against the 3M Co. and others, so their lawsuit alleging that they have been poisoned by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in protective coating in firefighting gear should not be dismissed. The plaintiffs also filed a brief in support of a motion for jurisdictional discovery.

  • September 09, 2025

    New York Attorney General, Landlords Reach $515,000 Settlement In Lead Case

    BUFFALO, N.Y. — New York Attorney General Letitia James has reached a $515,000 settlement with landlords in Buffalo, N.Y., that funds lead hazard remediation and creates a relief fund for tenants poisoned by lead paint. The consent order and judgment was entered in New York state court.

  • September 09, 2025

    Silica Exclusions Bar Coverage For Silica Exposure Lawsuits, Insurers Say

    LOS ANGELES — No coverage is afforded to Home Depot U.S.A. Inc. for more than 100 bodily injury lawsuits seeking damages as a result of silica exposure from countertops sold and marketed by Home Depot because the retailer is not an additional insured under policies issued to the countertop manufacturer and because the policies’ exclusions for silica and pollution bar coverage, insurers maintain in a complaint filed in California federal court.

  • September 08, 2025

    Plaintiffs Seek Final Judgment Approving Nearly $600,000 Award For Jet Fuel Spill

    HONOLULU — The bellwether plaintiffs in a lawsuit over groundwater contamination from a jet fuel spill at the Pearl Harbor Naval Base filed a brief in Hawaii federal court on Sept. 5 seeking entry of final judgment following the presiding judge’s issuance of findings of fact and conclusions of law in which she determined that the U.S. government is liable for a total of $598,633.15 in damages.

  • September 05, 2025

    Phthalate Exposure Linked To Breast Cancer, Study Finds

    MIAMI —  Researchers are publishing a report in a scientific journal about environmental health which concludes that there is emerging evidence that links exposure to phthalates — chemicals found in plastics, cosmetics and food packaging — to “the initiation, progression, and metastasis of breast cancer.”

  • September 03, 2025

    Oil Company Seeks Review Of Ruling That Nullified Its Right To Drill

    SAN FRANCISCO — An oil company on Sept. 2 filed a brief in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that it should review a lower court’s dismissal of the company’s claim for inverse condemnation in a dispute over a default judgment that nullified the company’s zoning clearance to conduct drilling operations because to challenge the lower court’s dismissal of its claims, the oil company had to wait until the district court entered a final judgment.

  • August 29, 2025

    3M Asks 11th Circuit To Reverse Remand Ruling In PFAS Pollution Case

    ATLANTA — The 3M Co. has filed a reply brief in the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that an Alabama municipality’s lawsuit for groundwater contamination allegedly from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the firefighting agent aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) belongs in federal court because 3M has made “plausible removal allegations” that any PFAS contamination cannot be “disentangled” from PFAS that was made according to federal specifications.

  • August 29, 2025

    6th Circuit Stays Mandate In Water Pollution Case Pending Supreme Court Petition

    CINCINNATI — A Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel has issued an order staying the mandate in a contentious groundwater contamination lawsuit against federal agencies and Michigan state agencies related to lead pollution in drinking water in the city of Benton Harbor to allow the city time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • August 28, 2025

    State Agency Sues Mobile Home Park For Violations Related To Tainted Groundwater

    CENTENNIAL, Colo. — A Colorado state agency on Aug. 27 sued a mobile home park in state court for violating state law because the drinking water in the park is contaminated with total coliform bacteria, which indicates that other, potentially harmful waterborne pathogens — such as E. coli — may be present in the water.

  • August 28, 2025

    Judge: Groundwater Plaintiffs’ Motion For Judgment, New Trial Lacks Merit

    ALEXANDRIA, La. — A federal judge in Louisiana has denied bellwether plaintiffs’ motion for judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) or a new trial in a groundwater contamination lawsuit, ruling that there is no merit to their argument that they are being denied due process because they did not have the benefit of a fully developed evidentiary record when presenting their claims.

  • August 27, 2025

    Attorneys File Multiple Cases Against Monsanto Alleging Cancer From Roundup

    ST. LOUIS — Attorneys filed five complaints against Monsanto Co. in Missouri federal court on Aug. 26, alleging in each one that the plaintiff has developed a specific type of cancer as a result of exposure to glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup, and that Monsanto has fraudulently concealed the dangers associated with Roundup. In one complaint, which is indicative of the others, plaintiff James Crank says Roundup is “defective, dangerous to human health, unfit and unsuitable to be marketed and sold in commerce.”