Ep 33 (PFAS in US) Boston Attorney John Gardella - Major PFAS developments in the US

Welcome back to Talking PFAS Podcast, and if you are joining me for the first time, welcome. I am a journalist and your host Kayleen Bell. You can reach me at TalkingPFAS@gmail.com.

The following show notes and all information in today's episode are copyright. Permissions must be sought to reproduce. The episode (and show notes) may be shared in its original form and its entirety for others to listen to.

Today’s guest is Boston Attorney John Gardella a shareholder at CMBG3 Law. He is a member of the firm’s PFAS team which counsels clients on PFAS related issues ranging from state violations to remediation litigation. John has been a repeat guest on Talking PFAS before and due to his experience and expertise it is always a pleasure to speak with him about PFAS and litigation in the US.

In today’s discussion we will be talking about several of his articles that he has written for the National Law Review. I will put a link to the articles we discuss today and his website in the show notes.

There are several points of significance in today’s discussion with John which I will briefly mention here but we will unpack the details in our chat.

California OEHHA added PFOA to list of chemicals known to cause cancer:

On February 25, 2022, another significant step was taken when the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) added PFOA to the list of chemicals known to cause cancer. The listing will create new warning label requirements for any product sold in California that contains PFAS, and may also increase enforcement action targeting of PFOA-containing products.

US EPA PFAS Roadmap:

The US EPA is taking many actions in regards to PFAS, outlined in a 20-page document called the PFAS Roadmap. John says for the first time they put a timetable on when they intend to release enforceable regulations for two PFAS in drinking water. There are currently no enforceable drinking water limits at the Federal level in the United States. This is something that many people in the US and the world are watching very closely.

John says, “So, by this fall we will know what their intent is and then they have to go through a required process where they open up their proposal to public comment and so they are opening that up for one year and they intend to have by the fall of 2023 a drinking water standard in the United States for all states, which would be enormous.”

In addition, “The US EPA intends to designate at least two types of PFAS, the PFOA and the PFOS as under the Super Fund Law.hazardous substances

Rob Bilott – Lead attorney in lawsuit brought by a firefighter:

On March 8 2022 the Ohio Court issued an opinion in the Hardwick v 3M case in which it certified a PFAS class action lawsuit that would include over seven million people. This is in relation to a lawsuit by a firefighter who is the lead plaintiff, with Taft lead Attorney Rob Bilott. The Ohio court ruled that the class of plaintiffs that would be allowed to proceed with the lawsuit (which is seeking medical monitoring) will be the “citizens of Ohio who have 0.05 ppt of PFOA and at least 0.05 ppt of any other PFAS in their blood serum.

For those who are unfamiliar with Attorney Rob Bilott’s work on PFAS there is plenty online and you can watch the Dark Waters Movie to see where his decades of PFAS litigation work all began. John said Attorney Rob Bilott’s team famously secured the now renowned C8 Science Panel in his PFAS litigation in West Virginia nearly two decades ago. It was the C8 Science Panel findings that significantly influenced litigation activity, regulatory and legislative activity with respect to PFAS and media attention on PFAS issues.

John said what he believes will be significant is that Mr Bilott wants a new science panel convened that would include all residents of Ohio.

John says, “there are 7 million people that live in Ohio, give or take a few but it is 7 million people and so just to put that in context a little bit. When he was in West Virginia about two decades ago now and he got his science panel through the litigation there, there were 70,000 citizens”

Washington – PFAS Bill to regulate various consumer goods which contain PFAS & the DOE to name PFAS containing firefighting gear a priority product:

Just after my discussion with John, on the 31 March Washington’s Governor signed into law a Bill that we discussed in today’s episode. This Bill significantly accelerates the state’s initiative to develop regulations for various consumer goods that contain PFAS. This Bill also requires the Department of Ecology to name PFAS containing firefighting gear a priority product under the State’s Safer Products for Washington initiative.

John says, “there has been a lot of regulation and legislation in the US in many States about firefighting foam, but this is certainly one of the first examples in the United States with respect to the firefighting gear.”

PFAS in cosmetics:

I have talked in detail about PFAS in cosmetics with John Gardella before in the Talking PFAS podcast, in episode 29. Since that discussion, as John’s team at CMBG3 Law predicted in early 2021, “the increased attention on the industry presented significant risks to the cosmetics industry and the developments made the cosmetics industry the number two target for future PFAS lawsuits.” In less than three months four industry cosmetic giants were hit with lawsuits related to their cosmetics and PFAS, which John says is significant news.

LINKS:

John Gardella's firm CMBG3 Law Boston

https://www.cmbg3.com/

US EPA 20-Page PFAS Roadmap

A selection of John's recent articles in National Law Review (many more available at his firm's website)

https://www.natlawreview.com/article/cosmetics-and-pfas-lawsuit-alleges-false-marketing

https://www.natlawreview.com/article/astm-pfas-standards-closer-to-adoption-epa

This episode is dedicated to my darling Molly cavoodle dog and best companion ever who lay dying at my feet (and we didn't know she was that sick) while I tried to edit this. We lost her on the 11.4.22 that is why this episode was up so late. This episode was recorded with John Gardella on the 29/3/2022.