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Mealey's Toxic Torts

  • November 13, 2025

    Chemours Tells 4th Circuit Group ‘Contravenes’ Law, Lacks Standing In PFAS Case

    RICHMOND, Va. — The Chemours Co. FC LLC on Nov. 12 filed a reply brief in the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that an environmental advocacy group “contravenes controlling case law” in its brief responding to Chemours’ appeal of a trial court decision in a per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination case. Chemours says that the group seeks “to turn every exceedance of any environmental permit, no matter how minor, into a basis for an injunction, substituting judicial relief for regulatory solutions.”

  • November 13, 2025

    Monsanto: Plaintiffs’ Expert’s Opinions In Glyphosate Cancer Case Are ‘Unreliable’

    WILMINGTON, Del. — Monsanto Co. has filed a reply brief in Delaware state court arguing that the plaintiffs’ opposition to the proposed exclusion of their expert in their glyphosate cancer lawsuit “fails to rectify the fundamental issues” with the expert’s “unreliable opinions and fails to adequately rebut” the arguments Monsanto made in its motion to exclude the expert’s testimony.

  • November 13, 2025

    EPA Proposes Changes To PFAS Reporting In Pesticides, Food And Cosmetics

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released a prepublication version of a proposed rule that would amend Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) regulations related to reporting on products that contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The changes would exclude reporting on PFAS in pesticides, food and cosmetics, among other products.

  • November 12, 2025

    Judge Affirms Prior Ruling, Says State’s Failure-To-Warn Claim In MTBE Case Fails

    NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York has granted a motion by gasoline companies to apply a prior summary judgment ruling to Pennsylvania’s claim for failure to warn in a long-running water contamination lawsuit related to methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), holding that the failure-to-warn claim cannot proceed because the state offered no evidence that a failure to warn was a substantial cause of the contamination at issue.

  • November 12, 2025

    Jurisdiction Lacking In PFAS Water Pollution Case, Defendant Says

    WHEELING, W.Va. — A defendant in a lawsuit seeking to recover the costs associated with removing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that have tainted local sources of drinking water under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act has filed a motion in West Virginia federal court arguing that the case should be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction because the plaintiff fails to allege that the defendant has sufficient contact with West Virginia.

  • November 12, 2025

    7 Minor Bellwether Plaintiffs Appeal $598,633 Award In Water Contamination Case

    HONOLULU — Seven of the bellwether plaintiffs in a lawsuit over groundwater contamination from a jet fuel spill at the Pearl Harbor Naval Base have filed a notice in Hawaii federal indicating that they are appealing a $598,633.15 damages judgment won by all 17 bellwether plaintiffs to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The appellants, all minors, did not articulate the specifics of their appeal.

  • November 11, 2025

    Group Says Government’s Bid To Nix DCE Claims In Camp Lejeune Case Is ‘Improper’

    RALEIGH, N.C. — The Plaintiffs’ Leadership Group (PLG) in the Camp Lejeune water crisis multidistrict litigation in North Carolina federal court on Nov. 10 filed a brief arguing that the U.S. government’s motion seeking summary judgment dismissal on all claims alleging that dichloroethylene (DCE) caused any of the Track 1 diseases is “improper.” The PLG argues that the government’s motion is “scientifically untenable” because “it is a scientific fact that DCE was present in the Camp Lejeune water that Plaintiffs drank.”

  • November 11, 2025

    Class Suit Says UPS, GE And Boeing’s Recklessness Caused November Plane Crash

    LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Recklessness by United Parcel Service Inc., General Electric Co. and Boeing Co. caused the Nov. 4 crash of a UPS MD-11 cargo aircraft as it attempted to depart a Louisville airport for Hawaii, airport neighbors allege in a putative class complaint filed in a federal court in Kentucky.

  • November 11, 2025

    Group: Court Should Deny Dismissal Of Consortium Claim In Camp Lejeune Case

    RALEIGH, N.C. — The Plaintiffs’ Leadership Group (PLG) in the Camp Lejeune water crisis multidistrict litigation filed a brief in North Carolina federal court on Nov. 11 arguing that it should deny the U.S. government’s partial motion to dismiss a woman’s loss of consortium claim related to her husband’s claim for Parkinson’s disease related to exposure to the contaminated water at the military base.  The PLG says “any other outcome would be a miscarriage of justice.”

  • November 11, 2025

    West Virginia High Court Says Deadline Expired On Claimants’ Lung Injury Lawsuits

    CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia high court has affirmed two lower courts and held that a group of coal miners who sued the makers of respiratory devices failed to file their lung injury lawsuits before the statute of limitations expired.

  • November 10, 2025

    High Court Should Reverse Federal Removal Ruling In AFFF Litigation, States Say

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Maryland and South Carolina have filed a joint petition for certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court asking it to review a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that denied them remand of their respective injury lawsuits against the 3M Co. related to exposure to the firefighting agent aqueous film forming foam (AFFF), arguing that the circuit court’s decision “far exceeds” the intended scope of the federal removal statute, expands federal jurisdiction at the expense of state sovereignty and “contravenes 200 years of this Court’s precedent” interpreting the statute.

  • November 06, 2025

    6th Circuit Denies Objectors’ Appeal Of $600M Ohio Train Derailment Settlement

    CINCINNATI — A Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Nov. 5 dismissed the appeal of a group of individuals who objected to the $600 million class action settlement in the Ohio train derailment lawsuit, ruling that the objectors failed to pay the $850,000 appeal bond in a timely manner and holding that they offered no valid justification for failing to pay the appeal bond.

  • November 05, 2025

    Attorneys Debate Jurisdiction, Prejudice In Heavy Metal Baby Food Case At Supreme Court

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Nov. 4 in a dispute between a baby food manufacturer and parents who contend that the company’s product contains heavy metals, with the attorneys debating issues of jurisdiction, diversity of parties and prejudice.

  • November 04, 2025

    Divided 5th Circuit Affirms Federal Class Does Not Toll State Limitations

    NEW ORLEANS — A divided Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of nearly 800 individual plaintiffs’ state law claims related to the release of allegedly toxic chemicals caused by a series of explosions at an industrial plant as time-barred, finding that the filing of a federal class action related to the incident does not toll the statute of limitations for the state law claims.

  • November 04, 2025

    Ga. Appeals Court Finds Wrong Standard Applied In Exclusion Of Causation Experts

    ATLANTA — A Georgia trial court applied the incorrect standard for determining the admissibility of expert testimony on general causation in a case alleging that exposure to ethylene oxide caused cancers and birth defects, a Georgia appeals court ruled in a consolidated appeal, vacating an order that allowed testimony from one expert but barred it from two others.

  • November 03, 2025

    Judge Approves $38M Deal In Securities Fraud Case Related To Roundup Herbicide

    SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California on Oct. 31 granted final approval to a $38 million settlement in a securities fraud class action against Bayer AG, the parent company of Monsanto Co., related to statements it made about Monsanto’s science-based trial defenses in Roundup litigation, ruling that the agreement is consistent with other federal securities class action settlements.

  • October 31, 2025

    Norfolk Southern: Ohio’s Bid For Judgment In Train Derailment Case Is ‘Meritless’

    YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Norfolk Southern Corp. on Oct. 30 filed a brief in Ohio federal court arguing that Ohio’s motion for summary judgment on more than half of its causes of action in its lawsuit against the railroad company in connection with the toxic contamination from the 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, “is as audacious as it is meritless. It fails on the facts and the law and should be denied.”

  • October 31, 2025

    D.C. Federal Judge Stays CERCLA Suit Dismissal Briefing Amid Shutdown Funding Lapse

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The deadline for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to reply to a group of environmental nonprofit organizations’ opposition to a motion to partially dismiss and transfer a lawsuit filed in District of Columbia federal court over the implementation of cleanup activities that allegedly violated requirements of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 and other federal directives is stayed until restoration of appropriations for U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) operations that expired due to the government shutdown.

  • October 31, 2025

    5th Circuit Denies 3M Leave To Appeal Order Remanding PFAS Case To State Court

    NEW ORLEANS — A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel has denied 3M Co.’s motion for leave to appeal a lower court order that remanded to state court the state of Texas’ per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) lawsuit against 3M and several affiliates of E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co.  The one-sentence order did not elaborate on the reason for denying the motion.

  • October 31, 2025

    Non-Fluoridation Class Action Dismissed; Judge Sees No Right To Fluoridated Water

    BUFFALO, N.Y. — A federal judge in New York dismissed without leave to amend a putative class complaint by residents of Buffalo, N.Y., who alleged that the city stopped fluoridating tap water without notice and in violation of the state constitution and various state laws.

  • October 30, 2025

    Washington High Court Reverses, Reinstates $185M PCB Verdict Against Monsanto

    OLYMPIA, Wash. — A divided Washington Supreme Court on Oct. 30 reversed a lower court’s decision, reinstated a $185 million verdict against Monsanto Co. and ruled that a new trial is not warranted in a polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) injury lawsuit brought by teachers at a Seattle area school, ruling that the jury’s finding of liability under Washington substantive product law is sufficient to sustain the punitive damages award.

  • October 30, 2025

    Split North Carolina High Court Grants DuPont A Stay In State’s PFAS Case

    RALEIGH, N.C. — A divided North Carolina Supreme Court on Oct. 29 granted a stay to E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. and its affiliates in a lawsuit brought by the North Carolina attorney general related to contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).  The majority did not elaborate on its decision, but in a dissent, Justice Anita Earls wrote that “DuPont’s own dilatory conduct undermines that such an immediate temporary stay is necessary.”

  • October 30, 2025

    Court Applied Law Improperly When It Nixed $250M Glyphosate Lawsuit, Man Says

    PHILADELPHIA — A pro se plaintiff filed an informal brief in the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 29 arguing that a lower court improperly applied the law when it dismissed his case seeking $250 million against Monsanto Co. for causing his cancer as a result of exposure to glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup.

  • October 29, 2025

    Defendant In PFAS Drinking Water Case Says CERCLA Claims Lack Sufficient Facts

    WHEELING, W.Va. — A defendant in a lawsuit by plaintiffs seeking to recover the costs associated with removing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that have tainted local sources of drinking water under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) on Oct. 28 filed a brief arguing that the case should be dismissed for failure to state a claim. The defendant says that the plaintiffs “do not make plausible allegations of facts sufficient to support their causes of action.”

  • October 29, 2025

    Plaintiffs’ Counsel: Expert In Camp Lejeune Water Case Showed ‘Extraordinary Bias’

    RALEIGH, N.C. — The Plaintiffs’ Leadership Group (PLG) in the Camp Lejeune water crisis multidistrict litigation in North Carolina federal court on Oct. 28 filed a brief arguing that the U.S. government’s general causation expert should be excluded because she failed to apply the correct standard under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act (CLJA) and because she “has demonstrated a lack of objectivity and extraordinary bias.”