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June 29, 2026
HARRISBURG, Pa. — A Pennsylvania appellate panel has remanded a benzene injury case to the trial court with instructions that it issue a supplemental opinion to provide findings of fact and conclusions of law addressing forum non conveniens factors that the panel said the trial court did not adequately analyze in its ruling denying a defendant’s motion to dismiss.
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June 26, 2026
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A federal magistrate judge in New York has issued a report recommending that a lawsuit brought by flight attendants who say that they were injured by exposure to jet fuel while on the job should remain in federal court because JetBlue Airways Corp. and Airbus Americas Inc. were likely fraudulently joined to defeat diversity.
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June 26, 2026
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — In a chemical exposure case brought by residents against the town of Brookhaven related to its operation of a landfill, a New York appellate panel has ruled that the federal discovery rule under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) preempts New York’s toxic tort statute of limitations even though the landfill in question is not a Superfund site. As a result, the panel affirmed a trial court decision that denied the town’s motion to dismiss the case.
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June 26, 2026
NEW YORK — A study published in an environmental research journal suggests that exposure to two specific types of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) is associated with the development of multiple sclerosis (MS), particularly among women.
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June 25, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a divided opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court on June 25 found that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) expressly preempts a state law labeling requirement that differs from the federal labeling requirements imposed under FIFRA for the herbicide Roundup, reversing a Missouri appellate court’s decision and remanding the case.
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June 25, 2026
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The U.S. Department of Justice on June 24 announced a consent decree that it said is valued at a minimum of $450 million to resolve claims for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) contamination from facilities operated by the Chemours Co. and an affiliate in West Virginia, New Jersey and North Carolina. Chemours issued a press release confirming the settlement, which calls for Chemours to pay a $22.5 million civil penalty and pay for pollution control programs to mitigate PFAS discharges.
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June 24, 2026
ST. LOUIS — In light of a federal judge in Missouri’s decision to send back to state court a case in which objectors are seeking to halt a $7.25 billion nationwide Roundup settlement, the Missouri state court judge who granted preliminary approval of the settlement issued a memorandum order on June 23 saying that “the Court believes it may be in the best interest of the case to delay the final approval hearing” and inviting any party that wants to be heard at the final approval hearing to file a brief stating its position on a delay.
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June 22, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on March 2 denied a petition filed by a group of individuals who objected to the $600 million class action settlement in the Ohio train derailment lawsuit and appealed a lower court’s requirements pertaining to an appeal bond in that litigation. The petitioners had argued that “the notion an appeal bond must be separately appealed, and cannot be challenged by motion within the appeal to which it relates, represents a split of authority among circuits.”
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June 19, 2026
FORT WAYNE, Ind. — An Indiana federal judge largely refused to exclude plaintiffs’ experts’ testimony in a long-running groundwater contamination lawsuit against RTX Corp. and other defendants, while barring a psychiatrist from opining on the reasonableness of the plaintiffs’ emotional distress.
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June 18, 2026
ST. LOUIS — After a Missouri federal judge remanded a case challenging the $7.25 billion nationwide Roundup settlement to state court on June 17, finding that the parties objecting to the settlement are not defendants and cannot remove the case to federal court, the objecting parties filed a notice in the district court indicating that they will appeal the remand ruling.
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June 17, 2026
SANTA ANA, Calif. — As lawsuits continue to mount against GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems Inc. related to a May chemical incident involving methyl methacrylate (MMA) at its Orange County, Calif., facility, more residents have filed a putative class action in California state court alleging gross negligence related to the endangerment of public health stemming from the incident.
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June 17, 2026
CLEVELAND — A federal judge in Ohio has remanded to state court a glyphosate cancer case against Monsanto Co. related to the herbicide Roundup, ruling that the local hardware store that was added as a defendant was not fraudulently joined and, therefore, the federal court does not have jurisdiction.
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June 15, 2026
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — An Ohio federal judge has lifted a stay, permitting a magistrate judge to rule on pending motions challenging the admissibility of experts in Ohio’s lawsuit against the operator of the train that derailed in 2023 and spilled toxic chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio. Meanwhile, intervenors filed a complaint challenging a $311,175,000 proposed consent decree that would resolve some of the claims in the case, arguing that the decree is based on a “fundamentally false factual premise” about the remaining risks posed by contamination.
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June 15, 2026
HONOLULU — A federal magistrate judge in Hawaii on June 12 recommended approval of the U.S. government’s petition for a good faith determination of a settlement with 367 plaintiffs for amounts ranging from $5,000 to $27,000 in two consolidated lawsuits related to groundwater contamination from a jet fuel spill at the Pearl Harbor Naval Base. The same day, the plaintiffs filed a response in support of the government’s petition, and nonsettling parties filed a statement incorporating their prior brief filed in opposition to a separate-but-related settlement.
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June 12, 2026
WICHITA, Kan. — A Kansas federal judge denied a motion to exclude experts retained by a woman seeking to represent a class of residents whose properties were allegedly contaminated by migrating chemicals that originated at an industrial railroad site and denied the railroad’s motion to dismiss the putative class action.
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June 12, 2026
MARINETTE, Wis. — A Wisconsin state court judge has approved a $10 million settlement between the state and Tyco Fire Products LP to resolve claims related to contamination of drinking water and the environment at large from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that emanated from Tyco’s Fire Technology Center (FTC).
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June 12, 2026
RICHMOND, Va. —A West Virginia water authority argues that the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals should affirm a lower court’s ruling that “carefully analyzed” the arguments and concluded that a class action settlement over injuries from a chemical spill in the Elk River was not breached. The authority contends further that the appellant “largely ignores” both the language of the agreement and the lower court’s order.
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June 10, 2026
PORTLAND, Ore. — A federal judge in Oregon ruled that a group of residents “sufficiently stated” claims against the Port of Morrow and several agricultural companies over their alleged roles in the contamination of groundwater in the Lower Umatilla Basin in violation of state law and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), finding that each defendant could have contributed to the alleged contamination and could be jointly liable.
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June 10, 2026
RALEIGH, N.C. — Three of the four judges in North Carolina federal court who are presiding over claims related to water contamination at Camp Lejeune have issued three orders that deal with expert opinions on causation and the use of offset evidence. Of particular note in the orders, the judges held that the Camp Lejeune Justice Act (CLJA) does not relax admissibility requirements under Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and that the government may obtain an offset of damages owed to plaintiffs depending on what medical benefits the plaintiffs have received from government insurance programs.
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June 10, 2026
HONOLULU — A federal judge in Hawaii on June 9 issued an order adopting a magistrate judge’s recommendation that the court approve a motion by plaintiffs seeking settlements for 176 minor plaintiffs in two of the consolidated lawsuits related to groundwater contamination from a jet fuel spill at the Pearl Harbor Naval Base. One day earlier, the judge issued three orders approving other findings and recommendations issued by the magistrate judge for additional settlements for hundreds of other plaintiffs.
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June 10, 2026
NEW LONDON, Conn. — Connecticut property owners have sued Chevron Corp. and others in state court, alleging that they are liable for contaminating their properties and groundwater with petroleum products and fuel oil as a result of discharges from a former petroleum storage terminal and an improperly abandoned underground storage tank.
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June 09, 2026
RICHMOND, Va. — A panel of the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s decision that granted a preliminary injunction in a per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination case, ruling that an environmental group did not establish irreparable harm regarding Chemours Company FC LLC’s discharge of PFAS-contaminated water into the Ohio River.
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June 09, 2026
MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota federal judge on June 8 agreed to stay an insurer’s lawsuit for six months to allow a California federal judge to determine whether the California judge’s summary judgment order, entered in a similar lawsuit filed by the insured countertop manufacturer named in hundreds of underlying silica exposure lawsuits, applies to all of the underlying silica lawsuits or only a select number of the underlying suits filed against the insured.
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June 02, 2026
SANTA ANA, Calif. — Residents who live within 0.4 miles of the site of “a hazardous materials emergency” that occurred at a California aerospace manufacturing site filed a class action complaint against the owners and operators of the facility in federal court alleging claims including negligence, trespass, nuisance and strict liability for ultrahazardous activity after they were forced to evacuate due to potential threats to their health and safety.
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June 01, 2026
NEW ORLEANS — After the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied en banc rehearing, the panel withdrew and replaced its opinion dismissing claims against BP Exploration & Production Inc. and an affiliate in an injury case related to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, but still refusing the defendants’ request that the panel reach a conclusion about the admissibility requirements for general causation expert testimony.