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June 10, 2026
PORTLAND, Ore. — A federal judge in Oregon ruled that a group of residents “sufficiently stated” claims against the Port of Morrow and several agricultural companies over their alleged roles in the contamination of groundwater in the Lower Umatilla Basin in violation of state law and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), finding that each defendant could have contributed to the alleged contamination and could be jointly liable.
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June 10, 2026
RALEIGH, N.C. — Three of the four judges in North Carolina federal court who are presiding over claims related to water contamination at Camp Lejeune have issued three orders that deal with expert opinions on causation and the use of offset evidence. Of particular note in the orders, the judges held that the Camp Lejeune Justice Act (CLJA) does not relax admissibility requirements under Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and that the government may obtain an offset of damages owed to plaintiffs depending on what medical benefits the plaintiffs have received from government insurance programs.
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June 10, 2026
HONOLULU — A federal judge in Hawaii on June 9 issued an order adopting a magistrate judge’s recommendation that the court approve a motion by plaintiffs seeking settlements for 176 minor plaintiffs in two of the consolidated lawsuits related to groundwater contamination from a jet fuel spill at the Pearl Harbor Naval Base. One day earlier, the judge issued three orders approving other findings and recommendations issued by the magistrate judge for additional settlements for hundreds of other plaintiffs.
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June 10, 2026
NEW LONDON, Conn. — Connecticut property owners have sued Chevron Corp. and others in state court, alleging that they are liable for contaminating their properties and groundwater with petroleum products and fuel oil as a result of discharges from a former petroleum storage terminal and an improperly abandoned underground storage tank.
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June 09, 2026
RICHMOND, Va. — A panel of the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s decision that granted a preliminary injunction in a per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination case, ruling that an environmental group did not establish irreparable harm regarding Chemours Company FC LLC’s discharge of PFAS-contaminated water into the Ohio River.
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June 09, 2026
MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota federal judge on June 8 agreed to stay an insurer’s lawsuit for six months to allow a California federal judge to determine whether the California judge’s summary judgment order, entered in a similar lawsuit filed by the insured countertop manufacturer named in hundreds of underlying silica exposure lawsuits, applies to all of the underlying silica lawsuits or only a select number of the underlying suits filed against the insured.
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June 02, 2026
SANTA ANA, Calif. — Residents who live within 0.4 miles of the site of “a hazardous materials emergency” that occurred at a California aerospace manufacturing site filed a class action complaint against the owners and operators of the facility in federal court alleging claims including negligence, trespass, nuisance and strict liability for ultrahazardous activity after they were forced to evacuate due to potential threats to their health and safety.
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June 01, 2026
NEW ORLEANS — After the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied en banc rehearing, the panel withdrew and replaced its opinion dismissing claims against BP Exploration & Production Inc. and an affiliate in an injury case related to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, but still refusing the defendants’ request that the panel reach a conclusion about the admissibility requirements for general causation expert testimony.
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June 01, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPMDL) has transferred to the MDL court for Roundup product liability litigation a putative class action that would establish a preliminarily approved nationwide Roundup settlement of up to $7.25 billion after a group of objectors who refer to themselves as the “objector defendants” removed the lawsuit to Missouri federal court and sought its transfer, arguing that the proposed settlement “extinguishes” the claims of current and future plaintiffs.
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June 01, 2026
RICHMOND, Va. — A pro se appellant has filed an informal appeal brief in the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that a lower court improperly refused to enforce the procedural protections and adjudicative framework established in a class action settlement agreement concerning litigation over a chemical spill in the Elk River in West Virginia. The man says that adjustments made by the settlement administrator reduced the amount he was awarded under the settlement.
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June 01, 2026
HONOLULU — A federal judge in Hawaii has adopted a magistrate judge’s findings and recommendation that settlements with a combined value of more than $17 million should be approved between the U.S. government and 630 plaintiffs in consolidated litigation over groundwater contamination from a jet fuel spill at the Pearl Harbor Naval Base.
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May 29, 2026
BUTTE, Mont. — A federal judge in Montana on May 28 denied motions by the 3M Co. and other makers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that sought to impose sanctions on two plaintiffs from Connecticut that voluntarily dismissed their claims in that state and joined a similar putative class action lawsuit in Montana, ruling that their conduct did not represent an abuse of the judicial system.
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May 29, 2026
ST. LOUIS — Removal to federal court of a Missouri state court putative class action where a $7.25 billion nationwide Roundup settlement has been preliminarily approved can’t be done by objectors to the settlement, consumers who filed the lawsuit and Monsanto Co. argue in separate motions to remand filed in the federal court; Monsanto is seeking expedited consideration of its motion.
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May 28, 2026
SAN FRANCISCO — Four adults representing seven minor bellwether plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the U.S. government over groundwater contamination from a jet fuel spill filed a reply brief in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals contending that a $598,633.15 damages judgment should be vacated and remanded for recalculation because similarly situated minors received “sharply different” awards without a stated methodology, rendering the awards “internally inconsistent.”
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May 27, 2026
ST. LOUIS — Individuals who object to the proposed $7.25 billion nationwide Roundup settlement between a putative class and Bayer Corp., Monsanto Co.’s parent company, removed the putative class action to Missouri federal court, arguing that the proposed agreement “extinguishes” the claims of current and future plaintiffs “in exchange for pennies on the dollar.” The objectors also moved to stay all proceedings pending a ruling on their motion to transfer the case to the multidistrict litigation for Roundup litigation.
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May 27, 2026
SAN FRANCISCO — A panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has vacated and remanded a lower court decision on the risk of water fluoridation, ruling that the district court “abused its discretion” when it refused to rule on the record presented in the first of two bench trials and when it paused the case pending publication of an additional study on water fluoridation, despite both parties asking the court to decide the case on the existing evidentiary record.
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May 26, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on May 26 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari in a case brought by Union Carbide Corp. and an affiliate in which they argued that the court should review a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals opinion pertaining to the correct legal standard for the admissibility of an expert under Federal Rule of Evidence 702 in an ethylene oxide (EtO) injury case.
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May 22, 2026
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The U.S. government and plaintiffs in the bellwether trial for minor plaintiffs in the Flint water crisis litigation filed posttrial proposed findings of fact in which they assert their respective arguments for who is responsible for the lead-contaminated drinking water in the city. The government insists that state regulators and city officials are primarily responsible, while the plaintiffs say the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was negligent.
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May 21, 2026
SAN DIEGO — A California appellate panel ruled in an unpublished opinion that a trial court abused its discretion by dismissing a wrongful death lawsuit against Monsanto Co. and others for delay in prosecution after the plaintiffs made a sufficient showing of good cause for the delay.
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May 20, 2026
PADUCAH, Ky. — A reinsurer and a ferrosilicon producer filed summary judgment motions in a Kentucky federal court in a pollution cleanup cost coverage dispute, with the reinsurer seeking dismissal of all claims against it on the basis that it is only an indemnity reinsurer with no contractual duties to the producer and the producer seeking rulings that its insurer and the reinsurer must cover more than $4.6 million in disputed claim costs, plus future regulatory compliance costs, under a pollution legal liability policy.
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May 20, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Monsanto Co. on May 19 filed a reply brief in support of its petition for a writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that it should hold the petition pending the court’s decision in the related case Monsanto v. Durnell because the two cases present the same question with respect to preemption of state law claims under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Monsanto argues that even if the court resolves the FIFRA issue in Durnell, the instant case separately warrants review because it presents an unresolved constitutional question regarding punitive damages awards.
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May 19, 2026
LEVERKUSEN, Germany — Bayer AG on May 18 announced settlements with Michigan and Rhode Island for potential claims by the states related to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) pollution. The settlements have a combined total minimum payment of $133 million, with the possibility of additional contingent payments tied to an indemnity lawsuit that Monsanto Co. filed against companies that it says agreed to cover certain liabilities from PCBs.
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May 18, 2026
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Despite determining that the plaintiffs’ motion to compel discovery in a toxic chemical exposure case was untimely, a federal magistrate judge in Kansas ruled on the merits of the motion and denied it as “overbroad, unduly burdensome, and not proportional to the needs of the case” because it sought documents spanning a 65-year period. The magistrate judge ruled that discovery was limited to a 10-year period dating from the filing of the complaint in 2015.
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May 18, 2026
CHARLESTON, S.C. — The federal judge in South Carolina overseeing the multidistrict litigation (MDL) for the firefighting agent aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) has remanded to state court three of nine groundwater contamination cases brought by South Carolina water authorities against E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. and other companies, ruling that DuPont’s government contractor defense does not apply to all of the cases.
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May 18, 2026
SAN FRANCISCO — The federal judge in California presiding over the multidistrict litigation related to the herbicide Roundup has denied plaintiffs’ request for an injunction or declaratory relief regarding certain features of a proposed nationwide class action settlement in other Roundup litigation, saying that the settlement, even if it were granted final approval and survived appellate review, “would not prevent this Court from exercising its authority over” the cases in the MDL.