Waste

The Defense Department (DOD) has quietly issued guidance setting Superfund screening levels for three per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in groundwater and other media, but the measure is drawing criticism from a former top EPA official who says it effectively preempts EPA’s pending groundwater cleanup guide for two of the substances and adopts much less stringent levels than those suggested by EPA if the chemicals are not comingled.

Pennsylvania residents are urging a federal district court to reject the Navy’s attempt to dismiss precedent-setting litigation seeking the military’s payment for medical monitoring to detect health issues that may develop after exposure to perfluorinated chemicals, saying the Navy cannot reargue issues already settled by an appeals court.

Appellate judges reviewing a first-time industry suit contesting EPA’s Superfund listing of a vapor intrusion site seemed to be grappling with the suit’s narrow challenge to the listing decision as it applies the agency’s 2017 Hazardous Ranking System (HRS) regulation governing the listing of such sites, even though the rule is not the subject of the suit.

A federal appeals court is signaling that imminent oral argument in a precedent-setting suit challenging EPA’s Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) listing of a vapor intrusion site will focus on the industry petitioner’s standing -- an issue that previously has been given little attention and one that raises doubts about the petitioner’s prospects.