Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin & Schiller environmental law shareholders Steve Miano and Pete Keays and summer associate Rhea Prabhu co–authored an article for The Legal Intelligencer titled, “PFAS Litigation—Like PFAS Itself—Is All Over the Place: Current State of Litigation.”
In the article, the attorneys provide some background on what per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS) are and why these chemicals are virtually everywhere, including the courtroom. They provide an overview of the EPA’s regulation of the chemicals, from when it was first regulated in 2002 to the EPA’s proposal that designates two PFAS chemicals, PFOA and PFOS, as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act. Currently, there is a lifetime drinking water health advisory for PFOS and PFOA, indicating that a concentration over 0.02 parts per trillion (ppt) for PFOS and 0.0004 ppt for PFOA pose health risks.
With the EPA’s strict regulation efforts against PFAS, there has been increasingly more litigation directed at the agency and manufacturing companies. Steve, Pete and Rhea chronicle different lawsuits against the EPA and manufacturers to demonstrate the influx of litigation and its effect on the PFAS legal landscape. Although many of the attempts to strengthen PFAS regulation by suing the EPA have been ineffective, the authors explain why the litigation against PFAS manufacturers is having a significant impact.
As the wave of PFAS-related lawsuits are forcing companies to change and the federal and state governments to tightly regulate PFAS, read why these “forever chemicals” may well be the contemporary version of asbestos or PCBs when it comes to environmental litigation.
