CHARLESTON, S.C. (Legal Newsline) - A South Carolina federal court is preparing to select bellwether plaintiffs to test personal injury claims relating to the group of chemicals known as PFAS.
PFAS regulation and litigation are the subjects of hot debate. They are found in firefighting foam and consumer products like non-stick cookware and are in the bloodstreams of virtually all Americans. They have been dubbed "forever chemicals" due to the body's inability to break them down.
But the exact health effects aren't known, despite states - which have also hired contingency fee private lawyers to sue - imposing their own maximum contaminant levels. The federal EPA has announced its own MCLs, while groups like the American Chemistry Council speak out against regulations based on what it feels is incomplete research.
Lawsuits are consolidated in a South Carolina federal court in a multidistrict litigation proceeding. The court will soon conduct a bellwether trial of one of its municipal plaintiffs alleging damage to its water system.
The City of Stuart, Fla., will go to trial June 5 against defendants like 3M. The city has argued it is owed $105 million in damages for future operation of its PFAS treatment system.
Separate from that track of cities seeking compensation are personal injury lawsuits in the MDL. A May 5 order from Judge Richard Gergel outlined the process for picking the first trial.
The bellwether plaintiffs will come from those alleging exposure to firefighting foam in Colorado at Peterson Air Force Base or Colorado Springs Municipal Airport, or in Pennsylvania at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Basse Willow Grove or Naval Air Warfare Center Warminster.
The plaintiffs must be alleging kidney or testicular cancer, thyroid disease or ulcerative colitis from PFAS. They also must allege exposure through drinking water and not direct contact with firefighting foam.
The two sides will select a pool of 28 plaintiffs by July 28, with a balance of diseases alleged.