National Law Review: PFAS Paper Mill Settlement Reflects Growing Trend — This week, an $11.9 million settlement was announced in a Michigan lawsuit in which a class of approximately 3,000 plaintiffs alleged that a PFAS manufacturer and a PFAS-using paper mill contaminated drinking water supplies. This could very well be a harbinger of cases and settlements to come for businesses that face lawsuits for actions that took place over the course of several decades.

My Central Jersey: Appeals Court Overturns $117 Million Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder Verdict — A Superior Court jury in Middlesex County, NJ, awarded a couple $80 million in punitive damages and $37 million in compensatory damages in a 2018 lawsuit agains Johnson & Johnson—but a state appellate court this week overturned that award and ordered new trials in the case. In its appeal, J&J argued that the judge had allowed unreliable expert testimony.

E & E News: Regan’s Contentious Bid to Reset EPA Scientific Integrity —  New EPA Administrator Michael Regan’s first significant decision as administrator—the firing of every member of two science advisory panels—attracted concern: Is this the start of a partisan tit for tat? E & E news investigates if this could be the start of a scorched-earth policy that could potentially undermine the agency’s core mission to evaluate science and regulate.

JD Supra: New Bill Would Require National PFAS Standards Within Two Years — Legal experts weigh in on the proposed federal PFAS regulation likely coming in the near term. They believe the cost of compliance is likely to be higher than many small water systems can absorb. It is also unknown if Congress will offer any solutions along with their coming mandate.

Genetic Literacy Project: Viewpoint: ‘The Dirty 8’ — Which are the Most Notorious Advocacy Groups Spreading Disinformation about Food, Farming, Biotechnology and Agricultural Sustainability — The team at Genetic Literacy Project exposes a group of well-funded advocacy groups stirring up public concern about food safety. The groups have become infamous for filing endless streams of lawsuits, running scare campaigns against safe technologies, and lobbying for regulations that hinder the progress of agricultural science.