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

Mealey's Toxic Torts

August 20, 2024
Residents Allegedly Harmed By Creosote Get Preliminary Approval Of $3.5M Settlement

LAKE CHARLES, La. — A Louisiana federal judge granted preliminary approval of a proposed class settlement that would see two petroleum companies place $3.5 million in a litigation fund to resolve claims alleging that they contributed to creosote contamination at a property that spread to the groundwater of neighboring areas.
August 19, 2024
U.S. Government Says Claims Regarding Firefighting Foam Injuries Must Be Dismissed

CHARLESTON, S.C. — The U.S. government filed a reply brief in South Carolina federal court on Aug. 16 arguing that the plaintiffs in five cases alleging injuries from exposure to the firefighting agent aqueous film forming foam (AFFF), which contains per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), should have their cases dismissed because they have not met their burden of showing that the discretionary function exception (DFE) in the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) does not bar their claims.
August 16, 2024
Magistrate Nixes GE’s Bid To Dismiss Groundwater Case, Says Fact Questions Exist

ALEXANDRIA, La. — A federal magistrate judge in Louisiana has denied General Electric Co.’s bid to dismiss a groundwater contamination lawsuit against it, ruling that there are material questions of fact regarding the scope and extent of GE’s control over the investigation of contamination and its involvement in remediation efforts at the facility that is the source of the pollution.
August 16, 2024
3rd Circuit Reverses, Says Roundup Cancer Claims Are Preempted By FIFRA

PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 15 reversed a lower court and held that the alleged state law duty to include a cancer warning on the label for the herbicide Roundup imposes requirements that are different from those imposed by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and, therefore, the warning is preempted by FIFRA.
August 16, 2024
Judge Transfers Deepwater Horizon Toxic Injury Case To Alabama Federal Court

WILMINGTON, Del. — A federal judge in Delaware has ruled that a toxic chemical injury lawsuit against the operators of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig should be transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama because multiple factors favor the move, including the fact that the plaintiff was exposed to harmful toxins within the borders of that district.
August 16, 2024
Judge Says Agent Orange Case Fails On Limitations And Causation Grounds

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A federal judge in New York has dismissed a case alleging injury from exposure to the herbicide Agent Orange on grounds that the claims are barred under the relevant statute of limitations and because the plaintiff failed to state a claim for relief or prove causation.
August 15, 2024
Firm’s Bid To Exclude Evidence Is ‘Far Too Broad To Enforce,’ Flint Plaintiffs Say

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Bellwether III plaintiffs in the litigation over the lead-contaminated water crisis in Flint, Mich., have filed a brief in Michigan federal court arguing that it should deny the defendant engineering firm’s motion to prohibit the plaintiffs from introducing into evidence documents that have not been previously disclosed or authenticated because it is “far too broad to enforce” and it would “force the Court to preempt the equitable exceptions” contained in federal and local rules.
August 15, 2024
Lawncare Company: Glyphosate Appeal Fails Because It Lacked Control Over Roundup

SAN FRANCISCO — One of the respondents in an appeal over allegations that exposure to the herbicide Roundup caused plaintiffs’ cancer on Aug. 14 filed a response brief in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that the claims against it fail because the company is an independent distributor of lawncare products that has no control over the “registration, product design, or labeling” of the items it sells.
August 14, 2024
EPA: Court Should Deny Groups’ Groundwater Petition Related To Injection Wells

NEW ORLEANS — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has filed a response brief in the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that it should deny a petition filed by environmental groups seeking reversal of an EPA decision that handed over to Louisiana the responsibility of regulating the practice of sequestering carbon dioxide in underground injection fracking wells. The EPA says it “carefully considered” Louisiana’s long-term liability provision and appropriately concluded that its program was “approvable.”
August 14, 2024
Monsanto Removes Roundup Case To Federal Court, Seeks Transfer To MDL

OKLAHOMA CITY — Monsanto Co. has removed to Oklahoma federal court a lawsuit brought by a couple that contends the husband developed cancer as a result of exposure to glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup, arguing that the case belongs in federal court because it should be transferred to the multidistrict litigation (MDL) for Roundup products
August 14, 2024
Monsanto: PCB Plaintiffs’ Bid To Exclude Medical History Is ‘Unworkably Vague’

SEATTLE — Monsanto filed a brief in Washington state court on Aug. 13, arguing that the plaintiffs’ motion to exclude all evidence of, or other reference to, unrelated medical history and medical records in a case alleging injuries from exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at a Seattle area school is “unworkably vague,” and it says medical history is relevant to proof of specific causation.
August 13, 2024
Plaintiffs Seek Documents In Camp Lejeune Water Case As Government Objects

RALEIGH, N.C. — The Plaintiffs’ Leadership Group (PLG) in the litigation over water contamination at the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina has filed a motion in North Carolina federal court seeking to compel the production of documents, arguing that during its depositions of key government personnel it has encountered “a recurring problem” in which the witnesses testify that they “possess troves of discoverable documents about Camp Lejeune that have not been produced during discovery.”
August 13, 2024
EPA Ponders U.S. Air Force’s Use Of Chevron Doctrine Reversal To Oppose PFAS Order

SAN FRANCISCO — A spokesman for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Aug. 12 told Mealey Publications that the agency is considering its response to a letter it received from the U.S. Air Force calling for the EPA to withdraw an order the agency issued directing it to submit a water treatment plan pursuant to the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) at the Tucson International Airport Area Superfund Site (TIAASS) on grounds the order cannot withstand review in light of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that abrogated the Chevron doctrine.
August 09, 2024
Not ‘Cuckoo For Cocoa Puffs’: Couple Says Cereal Brand’s Products Contain Lead

MINNEAPOLIS — A couple has filed a putative class action in Minnesota federal court seeking punitive damages that it projects as being more than $5 million against cereal maker General Mills Inc., contending that several of its products, including the iconic Cocoa Puffs cereal, are “unfit for consumption” because they contain high levels of lead.
August 08, 2024
7th Circuit Says Illinois’ PFAS Case Against 3M Belongs In State Court

CHICAGO — A Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Aug. 7 ruled that the state of Illinois’ lawsuit against the 3M Co. for contamination for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) belongs in state court because the federal officer removal statute does not apply to the specifics of the case in light of the fact that the state has “clearly and unequivocally” indicated that it is not seeking damages for PFAS contamination related to a weapons arsenal affiliated with the U.S. military.
August 08, 2024
Kimberly-Clark Moves Again To Dismiss PFAS Case, Says It Relies On ‘Speculation’

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Kimberly-Clark Corp. has moved in Connecticut federal court to dismiss an amended complaint in a putative class action alleging that the company is the source of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination in the local groundwater supply, arguing that the new version of the complaint “again fails to provide the Court with anything other than speculation and conjecture” that the company uses PFAS chemicals in its New Milford facility that have been discharged into the community.
August 02, 2024
JPMDL Denies Request To Centralize Cases Alleging Benzene In Acne Products

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPMDL) on Aug. 1 declined to centralize cases that allege that users of benzoyl peroxide (BPO) products for the treatment of acne vulgaris, including creams, washes, scrubs and bars, were inadequately warned about the presence of benzene after finding that many allegations will be specific to the individual defendants.
August 02, 2024
Man With Cancer Says Monsanto ‘Negligently’ Misrepresented Safety Of Roundup

MARSHALL, Texas — A man with cancer has sued Monsanto Co. in Texas federal court contending that it is liable for his injury because he was exposed to glyphosate, a chemical in the herbicide Roundup, which the man says Monsanto “fraudulently, intentionally, and/or negligently” misrepresented as safe even while it knew, or should have known, that it was toxic.
August 02, 2024
Plaintiff Amends Complaint, Again, Claiming Coca-Cola’s Fruit Drinks Contain PFAS

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — A plaintiff who had his class action complaint against the Coca-Cola Co. dismissed has filed a second amended complaint in New York federal court, alleging that various fruit drinks made by the company contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). In the new pleading, the plaintiff lists more drink products that allegedly contain PFAS.
August 01, 2024
U.S. High Court Extends Deadline For Monsanto’s Appeal Of Roundup Labeling Ruling

WASHINGTON, D.C. — According to a letter posted to the docket in the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has granted an extension to Monsanto Co., giving it until Sept. 5 to file a petition for writ of certiorari appealing the 11th Circuit’s refusal of its second petition for rehearing en banc in the long-running dispute over the labeling of the herbicide Roundup and the preemption provision of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).
July 31, 2024
Former Firefighter With Cancer Says PFAS Manufacturers Are Liable For His Injury

CHARLESTON, S.C. — A former firefighter has sued 3M Co., E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. and other makers of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in South Carolina federal court alleging that they are liable for causing him to develop cancer as a result of exposure to PFAS in the firefighting agent known as aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) and the protective clothing worn by firefighters.
July 31, 2024
Plaintiffs: PCB Contamination Of School ‘Undisputed,’ Expert Testimony Admissible

SEATTLE — The plaintiffs who sued Monsanto Co. over injuries from exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at a Seattle area school have filed a brief in Washington state court opposing Monsanto’s motion for summary judgment dismissal and arguing that it is “undisputed” that the school was contaminated with PCBs and that the school buildings underwent “extensive cleaning and remediation” to remove “toxic chemicals from the premises.”
July 31, 2024
Delaware Judge Clarifies Which Documents Are Discoverable In Paraquat Coverage Suit

WILMINGTON, Del. — Two companies that make paraquat and face underlying claims from individuals who contend that the herbicide causes Parkinson’s disease must produce any documents with legal analysis as long as those documents do not include legal recommendations from the insureds’ law firm, a Delaware judge said in enforcing a prior ruling on which documents are discoverable.
July 30, 2024
Federal Magistrate: Some Investor Claims Over 2023 Derailment Should Be Tossed

NEW YORK — Investors failed to show that railroad company Norfolk Southern Corp. and certain of its executives had an obligation to disclose previous federal compliance failures in the company’s strategic plan, which meant that the investors failed to show that the plan was false or misleading, a federal magistrate judge said in a report recommending that some claims related to the strategic plan be dismissed from a putative class complaint alleging that the company misled investors leading up to a February 2023 train derailment in Ohio.
July 30, 2024
Fire Products Company Seeks Declaration That Insurer Owes Coverage For AFFF Claims

CHARLESTON, S.C. — A fire products manufacturer that is a defendant in the ongoing litigation related to the firefighting agent known as aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) on July 29 moved in a South Carolina federal court for partial summary judgment that Travelers Casualty and Surety Co. has not satisfied its duty to defend the company from “thousands of claims seeking damages.”