MADISON, Wis. (Legal Newsline) - Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has announced his “Action Plan” for the chemical family known as PFAS and it’s similar to the plans of other, mostly Democratic governors and attorneys general: hire outside lawyers.
Gov. Evers formed a PFAS Action Council soon after he was elected in 2019 and the resulting Action Plan included a variety of recommendations including setting groundwater standards, cleaning up known contamination sites, and in a single sentence of the 91-page report, taking “appropriate legal actions against companies responsible for PFAS discharges.”
In a recent news release, the governor said Attorney General Josh Kaul will solicit bids from law firms interested in representing the state in PFAS litigation. Under Wisconsin’s Transparency in Private Attorney Contracting Act passed in 2013, contingency fees are limited to $30 million per lawsuit and the governor must make a written determination that hiring outside counsel is cost-effective and in the general public interest.
“PFAS can have devastating effects not only on our state’s ecosystem and vital natural resources, but on the health of our families and communities across the state,” said the governor in the Jan. 22 news release. “Those companies responsible for the contamination of our land and water should be held accountable.”
Thousands of chemicals in the PFAS family have been manufactured over the years for use in everything from nonstick pans to firefighting foam. The durable molecules persist in the environment and are water-soluble, meaning they can leach into groundwater and be consumed by humans. Virtually everyone in the U.S. has trace amounts of PFAS in their tissue.
The scientific evidence against PFAS is actually far from clear, however. Most of the research cited by plaintiff lawyers flowed from a “Science Panel” funded by DuPont under a $671 million settlement of PFAS claims in West Virginia. That panel found a “probable link” between PFAS and six conditions including cancer of the testicles and kidney. But a subsequent study funded by the Centers for Disease Control found the evidence for a PFAS-cancer link “remains sparse.”
Tighter regulation of PFAS and lawsuits against the chemical industry remain high priorities for Democratic politicians and the law firms that contribute to their campaigns. Governors and AGs in Michigan, North Carolina, New Jersey and other states have hired private lawyers to sue over PFAS, sometimes without disclosing the terms of their agreements.
Evers, a Democrat, drew hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from labor and government unions for his 2019 election. Wisconsin trial lawyer Robert Habush gave him $12,000, while billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer and his wife gave $20,000, as did Laurene Jobs, widow of Apple founder Steve Jobs.
Kaul, also Democrat, was heavily supported by labor unions and liberal policy groups, according to Followthemoney.org, and drew $20,000 each from Jobs and Steyer. George Zelcs, a lawyer with Korein Tillery in Chicago, gave $5,000. Korein Tillery, a heavy donor to Democratic politicians in the Midwest, is involved toxic-tort litigation as well as municipal lawsuits seeking to impose new taxes on Netflix subscribers. The firm gave more than $61,000 to Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, since embroiled in a scandal over payments involving a nuclear utility.
Wisconsin's litigation will likely end up in a multidistrict litigation proceeding in South Carolina federal court.