A federal appellate panel sided with EPA’s argument that the agency was acting appropriately to address the risks of “forever chemicals” under the nation’s chemical safety law.
An opinion filed Friday morning out of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed two environmental groups’ suit that claimed EPA was not meeting its statutory duties to reduce PFAS spread via fluorinated plastic containers.
“The court expressed skepticism” that EPA is required “to bring an enforcement action, and, even if it did, the court found that duty had not been triggered,” Judge Harry Edwards, a Carter appointee, wrote in the opinion. Judges Cornelia Pillard, an Obama appointee, and Justin Walker, a Trump appointee, joined.
At issue is a process to make the insides of plastic barrels more durable called fluorination, which creates dangerous PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, as unintended byproducts that then leach into fertilizers, condiments and other products stored in the barrels.
