The Wall Street Journal: J&J Injury Claimants Fail to Prevent Potential Talc Bankruptcy — A Delaware judge declined to prohibit Johnson & Johnson from separating talc-related liabilities from the rest of its business, ruling against personal-injury lawyers who said they fear the company could place thousands of cancer claims into bankruptcy to try to drive settlements. As of July, the company faced roughly 34,600 lawsuits linking its talc-based baby powder to ovarian cancer, asbestos cancer, and other illnesses.

Water World: Orange County Receives $131M WIFIA Loan for PFAS — The EPA granted Orange County, California the $131M WIFIA loan for its PFAS Facilities Treatment Project, wherein 35 PFAS treatment systems will be designed, permitted, and constructed within two years. In 2020, dozens of wells that pump water from the Orange County Groundwater Basin were removed from service after the state of California lowered the Response Level advisories of two PFAS chemicals.

Wisconsin State Journal: Wisconsin Hires California Law Firm to Go After PFAS Polluters — The Wisconsin Department of Justice on Wednesday awarded California-based law firm Sher Edling LLP a contract to represent the state in cases involving PFAS. The firm will operate under the direction of the attorney general and will work on a contingency basis, meaning the state will not have to pay unless it wins.

JD Supra: Plastics and PFAS – Recent Developments Target Food and Beverage Packaging — A proposed EPA regulation will require significant PFAS reporting from manufacturers, including categories of use, quantities manufactured or processed, environmental and health effects studies and data, numbers of individuals exposed, and any disposal. The EPA also advised importers who do not obtain knowledge of PFAS presence in the goods they import to document due diligence efforts.

Baltimore Magazine: Officials Work to Keep “Forever Chemicals” Out of Baltimore’s Water — A report out this month from The Abell Foundation finds that Baltimore does not have worrisome levels of the chemicals in its drinking water, but recommends the city, state, and federal government all begin to take action to keep it that way. Baltimore’s drinking water comes from a diffuse network of reservoirs in the region, meaning there are multiple points where PFAS could enter the water supply.