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

Mealey's Toxic Torts

July 13, 2023
Parties Reach $42M Settlement In Case Over Contamination From Smelting Facility

TRENTON, N.J. — The parties in a long-running class action filed a joint motion in New Jersey federal court seeking approval of a $42 million cash settlement to resolve allegations that a smelting facility had released toxic chemicals into the environment.
July 13, 2023
Judge Seals Part Of Proposed DuPont PFAS Settlement Worth More Than $1.18 Billion

CHARLESTON, S.C. — A federal judge in South Carolina on July 12 granted a motion to seal a supplemental agreement involving cities, public water authorities and E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. and its affiliates pertaining to a proposed class settlement of more than $1.18 billion related to claims of drinking water contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in connection with the firefighting agent aqueous film forming foam (AFFF).
July 12, 2023
Split En Banc 11th Circuit Sends Roundup Preemption Case Back To Original Panel

ATLANTA — A divided 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, sitting en banc, has remanded a lawsuit brought by a man with cancer against Monsanto related to the product labeling of the herbicide Roundup, ruling that the original panel must answer the question of whether the case is preempted by federal law on the basis of ordinary principles of statutory interpretation.
July 12, 2023
EPA Says Norfolk Southern’s Affirmative Defenses Fail In Train Derailment Case

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has filed a brief in Ohio federal court supporting a motion to strike certain affirmative defenses raised by Norfolk Southern Corp. in the consolidated lawsuits brought by the state of Ohio and the U.S. government related to injuries from the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, arguing that Norfolk Southern is not entitled to relief under a “failure to mitigate” defense because the U.S. government has no duty to mitigate Norfolk Southern’s damages under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA).
July 12, 2023
DuPont Says Supreme Court Must Review $40M PFAS Verdict For Due Process Violations

WASHINGTON, D.C. — E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for review of a divided Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that affirmed a $40 million verdict against DuPont for injuries caused by exposure to a specific type of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) called perfluorooctanoic acid (known as both PFOA and C8), arguing that “the decision below eviscerates a critical tool for resolving mass torts cases and violates basic principles of due process to boot.”
July 12, 2023
Judge: PFAS Case Belongs In Federal Court Based On Government Contractor Defense

CAMDEN, N.J. — A federal judge in New Jersey has denied a motion to remand to state court a lawsuit alleging contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) because the defendant has demonstrated removability under Boyle v. United Technologies Corp. related to the government contractor defense.
July 12, 2023
DuPont ‘Willfully’ Discharged PFAS, Polluted Drinking Water, Man With Cancer Says

RALEIGH, N.C. — A man with cancer sued Corteva Inc., E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. and affiliated companies in North Carolina federal court contending that they are liable for his injury because the companies have a history of “willfully and wantonly” discharging per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) into the Cape Fear River, which serves as the primary source of drinking water for thousands of North Carolina residents.
July 12, 2023
95 Vermont School Districts Sue Monsanto For PCBs In School Buildings

BURLINGTON, Vt. — Ninety-five school districts in Vermont have sued Monsanto Co. and two affiliated companies in Vermont federal court, seeking punitive damages for contamination allegedly caused by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in school buildings throughout the state.
July 12, 2023
Deepwater Horizon Plaintiff Denied Bid To Obtain Clawed Back Item From BP

NEW ORLEANS — A man bringing claims against BP Exploration & Production Inc. and BP America Production Co. (BP, collectively) pursuant to the Deepwater Horizon medical settlement agreement (MSA) saw his motion to compel production of a confidential document from another case denied, with a Louisiana federal judge declining to override of other court’s protective order.
July 11, 2023
Expert Is Unreliable, Should Be Excluded From Roundup Cases, Monsanto Says

SAN FRANCISCO — Monsanto Co. on July 10 moved in California federal court to exclude specific causation opinions of a plaintiffs’ expert in two cases in the multidistrict litigation for product liability related to the herbicide Roundup, saying that because the expert “failed to complete the two required steps of his claimed ‘differential etiology’ methodology,” his testimony is unreliable.
July 11, 2023
Monsanto: Case Fails Because Of Plaintiff’s 2-Year Delay In Filing Fact Sheet

SAN FRANCISCO — Monsanto Co. moved in California federal court to dismiss with prejudice a lawsuit brought by a woman who contends that exposure to the herbicide Roundup caused her cancer, arguing that she failed to submit to the court a plaintiff fact sheet (PFS) despite multiple notices to do so over more than two years.
July 10, 2023
Judge Stays Flint Case Pending Confidential Deal Involving Engineering Firm

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A federal judge in Michigan issued a text-only order on the docket and granted a stipulation to stay proceedings in the Flint lead-contaminated water crisis litigation with respect to claims against an engineering firm and its parent company after the parties said they have reached a confidential settlement on allegations that the firm shared liability for the crisis because it was involved in the decision to switch the city’s water supply to the Flint River, which precipitated the crisis.
July 06, 2023
Consumer Says ‘Pop Secret’ Popcorn Bags Made With PFAS In Class Complaint

SAN FRANCISCO — Two women filed a putative class action in California federal court accusing two companies of misleadingly marketing the popular “Pop Secret” microwave popcorn brand as a healthy product when the microwave bags the product is sold in are made with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in violation of California environmental laws and the state’s unfair competition law (UCL).
July 05, 2023
Washington Federal Magistrate Limits Expert’s Testimony In PCB Case

SEATTLE — A Washington federal magistrate judge partially granted a motion to exclude filed by Seattle in its suit to hold companies liable over polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination in the city’s waterways and stormwater and drainage systems, finding an expert’s opinion on historical waste disposal in landfills irrelevant but allowing his other conclusions.
July 05, 2023
Norfolk Southern Sues Railcar, Chemical Companies In Ohio Train Derailment Case

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Norfolk Southern Railway Co. filed a third-party complaint in Ohio federal court against chemical companies and railcar companies seeking contribution for expenses related to remediating chemical contamination caused by the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, which released vinyl chloride and other toxins. Norfolk Southern maintains that railcar owners and shippers are responsible for the chemicals released in the derailment.
July 05, 2023
Ohio Train Derailment Plaintiffs Insist Claims Have Been Pleaded Sufficiently

YOUNGSOWN, Ohio — Plaintiffs who are suing Norfolk Southern Corp. for injuries from toxic chemicals released as part of the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, filed a response brief in federal court arguing that Norfolk Southern’s motion to dismiss should be denied because they sufficiently pleaded all their claims and their request for punitive damages. They also say that Norfolk Southern failed to show that the claims are preempted by federal law.
July 03, 2023
Ohio Officials Say Group Lacks Standing In Train Derailment Case

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and the director of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) filed a reply brief in Ohio federal in support of their motion to dismiss claims brought by a nonprofit organization that sued them for alleged failure to properly respond to the East Palestine train derailment and the subsequent toxic chemical spill, arguing that the group lacks standing and fails to state a viable claim for a state-created danger.
June 30, 2023
Monsanto Insists Its Roundup Expert Is Qualified, Says Motion To Exclude Fails

SAN FRANCISCO — Monsanto Co. on June 29 filed a brief arguing that a California federal court should deny an attempt by a woman with cancer who seeks to exclude Monsanto’s expert witness in her injury lawsuit related to the herbicide Roundup because the plaintiff’s motion is “based on arguments that misunderstand and misrepresent his qualifications and opinions, as well as Roundup’s regulatory landscape.”
June 30, 2023
Multiple Cases Opened In MDL On The Same Day Seek Damages From Paraquat Makers

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — In one of multiple cases opened on the same day in a multidistrict litigation in Illinois federal court, a man with Parkinson’s disease on June 29 sued the chemical companies contending that they knew, or should have known, that the pesticide paraquat is “a highly toxic substance that can cause severe neurological injuries.”
June 30, 2023
Split Iowa Supreme Court Says Chemical Injury Plaintiff Failed To Show Causation

DES MOINES, Iowa — A split Iowa Supreme Court has affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of a woman’s lawsuit alleging permanent lung injury from exposure to chemical vapors from drain cleaner used in the building where she worked, ruling that she failed to offer evidence to establish causation.
June 29, 2023
Judge Says School District’s PCB Case Against Monsanto May Proceed

BURLINGTON, Vt. — A federal judge in Vermont has denied Monsanto Co.’s attempt to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the Burlington School District (BSD) contending that the company is liable for contamination from polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in school buildings, ruling that the BSD’s allegation that Monsanto knew that “its PCBs were substantially certain to enter School property” is sufficient for a plausible claim of common-law trespass at this stage of the proceeding.
June 29, 2023
New Jersey, Company Reach PFAS Settlement Worth Nearly $393 Million

TRENTON, N.J. — The New Jersey attorney general announced June 28 that it has reached a proposed settlement with Solvay Specialty Polymers USA LLC worth $392,781,963.69 to resolve the state’s litigation for cleanup and removal costs from contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
June 28, 2023
Monsanto Denies Glyphosate Causes Cancer, Says Alleged Conduct ‘Insubstantial’

SAN FRANCISCO — Monsanto Co. on June 27 filed an answer in California federal court denying all allegations that glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup, causes cancer and arguing that any alleged negligent or culpable conduct of the company, which it does not admit, “was so insubstantial as to be insufficient to be a proximate or substantial contributing cause of plaintiff’s alleged injuries.”
June 28, 2023
Monsanto, Plaintiffs Seek Discovery Protective Order In PCB Injury Lawsuit

BURLINGTON, Vt. — Monsanto Co. and school teachers and a spouse who have sued the company for injuries from exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in a school have moved in Vermont federal court for approval of a stipulated protective order governing discovery because the litigation may involve production of trade secrets, personal health information and other sensitive material.
June 28, 2023
Man With Cancer: Monsanto Knew Roundup, PCBs Posed ‘Unreasonable Risks Of Harm’

HONOLULU — A man with cancer has sued Monsanto Co. in Hawaii state court contending that it is liable for his injury, which he says is from exposure to both the herbicide Roundup and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), because the company knew, or should have known, of the “unreasonable risks of harm” associated with both substances, including “dangerous and carcinogenic properties.”