Attorney John Gardella  was recently interviewed by Julia John, reporter for Chemical Watch, for her article regarding the 2023 outlook for PFAS regulatory action, litigation trends, and scientific developments. Ms. John is a North American Reporter for Chemical Watch and has closely followed and published on PFAS issues. Attorney Gardella was interviewed for his insights into the impact that the EPA’s CERCLA designation of PFOA and PFOS will have on companies, as well as the litigation outlook for 2023. For the complete article and Ms. John’s PFAS thought content, please view the article here.

An exerpt from the article is below:

CERCLA designations

This summer, the EPA expects to fi nalise a rule naming PFOA and PFOS as hazardoussubstances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). Such a move could trigger an avalanche of lawsuits demanding cleanup funds from anyone linked to PFAS contamination at a Superfund site, including the compounds’ downstream users.

CMBG3 Law shareholder John Gardella says businesses “will seek to bring other responsible parties into the remediation under way to offset their cleanup costs as much as possible”. “For 2023, the CERCLA designation is, in my opinion, the top PFAS-related item that will trigger widespread litigation and enforcement action costs to companies,” he says. He recommends companies “take proactive steps to understand the potential scope of riskfrom the CERCLA changes”, such as determining any PFASs used and the timing of that use.

Further litigation

Another arena of litigation likely to intensify this year involves consumer deception cases over PFAS-containing offerings marketed as non-toxic or sustainable, Mr Gardella says. These lawsuits, which could address anything from clothing to cosmetics to children’s products to FCMs, will keep growing because they “have much lower standards of proof for plaintiffs ’attorneys” compared with other types of lawsuits, he says.”

CMBG3 Law is following judicial, legislative, administrative, and scientific developments relating to PFAS. More information about the services we can provide, including risk assessments, to ensure your business is ready for any intersection with these substances can be found on our PFAS Litigation page.

Our attorneys have been at the forefront of PFAS issues, including giving presentations as to the future waves of litigation stemming from PFAS issues. For more information, please contact the Chair of our PFAS – Toxic Torts Team: John Gardella.