PFAS Fluorinated Container Citizens’ Suit Dismissed Without Prejudice

Washington, DC — A federal judge in the District of Columbia has dismissed a citizen suit to restrain production of unsafe PFAS in violation of federal law by a Texas company “fluorinating” millions of plastic containers widely used by the public. The dismissal was on the grounds that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was already “diligently prosecuting” the matter in a separate case. The court did, however, allow Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) and the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) to refile their suit against the company if EPA does not follow through in stopping its ongoing violations of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

PEER and CEH will now move to intervene in the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against Inhance Technologies, based in Houston, Texas, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The groups’ citizen suit, filed late last year, was based upon EPA and independent peer-reviewed studies showing that the Inhance fluorination process to strengthen the lining of these containers creates numerous per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (aka PFAS or “forever chemicals”) prohibited by an EPA significant new use rule (SNUR) under TSCA. PFAS are a class of toxic chemicals that has prompted alarm around the globe because of its persistence and known serious harmful effects.