In the Media
‘Buckle Up’ for PFAS Regulation, Litigation in 2022, Lawyers Say
Read Time: 1 minCleveland attorney and former environmental prosecutor Michael Blumenthal was quoted in a December 29 Bloomberg Law article on upcoming federal moves over the next year to reduce and control “forever chemicals,” including plans by the EPA to propose water and waste regulations for two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.
The possibility already is affecting corporate discussions about buying and selling property, said Michael Blumenthal, an attorney with McGlinchey Stafford PLLC and former environmental prosecutor for Ohio. Purchasers are investigating whether a company or property they might buy has used or disposed of PFAS before deciding whether to buy them, he said.
Some EPA regional offices also are suggesting that parties responsible for Superfund cleanups consider getting ahead of the curve and finding out whether PFAS are contaminants they’ll have to deal with, Blumenthal said.
For example, he’s working with a group of companies that are preparing a remediation plan for an East Coast Superfund site. They’re discussing whether to examine their own corporate history with PFAS and test the site for the chemicals, he said. That could be more expensive in the short run but cheaper than redoing the plan or even reopening a cleaned up site in the long run, he said.
If PFOA and PFOS are deemed hazardous waste, Blumenthal said closed Superfund sites could be reopened and “landfills will have no choice but to go after industries that contributed the chemicals,” to their site.
“There will be so much litigation,” he said.