Federal judges didn’t seem swayed by environmental groups’ argument that EPA missed a mandatory deadline for managing the risks of “forever chemicals” leaching from fluorinated plastic barrels, in a case heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Friday morning.
The lawsuit centers on EPA’s duties under the Toxic Substances Control Act to mitigate the health risks from a chemical process called fluorination, which coats the insides of plastic containers to make them more durable. That process creates numerous PFAS as byproducts, which can that then seep into the container’s contents, often large quantities of pesticides, fuel or household cleaning products.
EPA last summer granted a citizen petition to initiate the TSCA rulemaking process necessary to eliminate the “unreasonable risks” of PFAS contamination from plastic fluorination.
“This is a strange case to me … as far as I can see, the agency did exactly what it was supposed to do,” said Judge Harry Edwards, a Carter appointee. “They granted the petition, and … it’s so unusual the agency immediately says, ‘Yes, there’s a problem here, we have to address it.'”
