Natural Resource Damages & Environmental Justice
Environmental Agencies, Superfund Cleanups, and Managing Enforcement Actions
What are PFAS and Why Should We Care?
Volatile Times in Vapor Intrusion Regulation: A Legal and Technical Update
The U.S. Navy and the Department of Justice have set a deadline of August 2024 for Camp Lejeune veterans who were diagnosed with cancer or other illnesses after serving at the marine base to file a claim and receive...more
As expected, 2023 was an expansive year for the regulation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) at the federal level. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) took (or at least proposed)...more
Aqueous film-forming foam (“AFFF”) is a hot topic in per- and polyfluorinated Substances (“PFAS”) litigation. AFFF is used to fight gasoline, oil, and jet fuel fires by producing an aqueous film that spreads across a fire’s...more
In October 2021, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) introduced its PFAS Strategic Roadmap, laying out the agency’s approach to PFAS regulation in the coming years. One of the most highly anticipated...more
On November 16, the Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board (“EQB”) voted to approve the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s (“PADEP”) proposed rule to set binding regulatory standards, known as maximum...more
If your organization has not already started thinking about PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), there's no time like the present. PFAS refers to a family of man-made, environmentally persistent chemicals (often...more
Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation Centralizes Some COVID‐19 Related Insurance Cases As reported in our September update, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation at its July 2020 hearing session requested...more
In support of the State Water Resources Control Board’s (State Board) efforts to investigate and evaluate the public health effects of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), the San Francisco Regional Water Quality...more
Recently, I participated in the Environmental Law Institute’s (ELI) Master Class, PFAS: From Common Use to Concern. My fellow panelists and I discussed “PFAS in Water,” which included a discussion of the environmental and...more
Information about PFAS compounds in California is literally exploding, with additional contamination sites identified almost daily, while the science and legal environments surrounding these “forever chemicals” also see...more
EPA is moving forward on the drinking water component of its PFAS Action Plan by requesting the Office of Management to review its proposed regulatory determinations for two types of PFAS. This is a definite step toward...more
MassDEP proposed groundwater cleanup standards for PFAS significantly lower than the federal health advisory as part of its long-expected proposed revisions to Massachusetts’ regulations governing the assessment and cleanup...more
Earlier this month, Judge Christopher E. Krueger of the Sacramento Superior Court issued an order invalidating the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for hexavalent chromium. The California Department of Public Health (“DPH”)...more
While speaking at a recent conference on natural resource damages, the Secretary of the New Mexico Environment Department, Ryan Flynn, outlined New Mexico’s grievances against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”)...more
For the past several years, the rapid growth of oil and natural gas production from shale and other unconventional sources has prompted vocal and often sensationalized concerns regarding the potential for migration of gas...more