Category: California

California / General
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Glyphosate and Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Claims: Different Results In Different Courtrooms Based On The Same Science

We recently reported on a $289 million verdict for plaintiff Dewayne Johnson against Monsanto Company in the state Superior Court of California, an astounding verdict by the jury who found that Mr. Johnson’s use of glyphosate-containing herbicides caused him to develop a type of cancer known as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Monsanto will be appealing the verdict on the grounds that the science does not show that glyphosate causes cancer. While the court in Johnson admitted scientific evidence by plaintiffs that glyphosate causes cancer, it is not …

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California
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$289 Million Verdict for Plaintiff In Roundup Litigation

Well, it finally happened: in the first glyphosate exposure case to go to a jury trial, a San Francisco, California jury awarded a former school groundskeeper $289 million dollars.

Back in June, we reported that DeWayne “Lee” Johnson, a groundskeeper for the school district in Benicia, California, had filed suit alleging that workplace exposure to glyphosate-containing products Roundup and Ranger Pro had led him to develop lymphoma. His case went to trial in late June, and last Friday, the jury reached a verdict. They awarded …

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Agriculture / California / EPA
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Ninth Circuit Bans Use of Pesticide Chlorpyrifos in Agriculture

On August 9, 2018, the Ninth Circuit ordered that the EPA ban a widely used pesticide called chlorpyrifos within 60 days. The court found that EPA had failed to determine that chlorpyrifos was safe.  The decision marked the end – albeit perhaps only temporarily – to a decade-long battle between the pesticide and agriculture industry on one side and environmental and public health groups on the other.

By way of background, EPA, under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) and Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, …

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White peeling paint wall
California / General
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Battles over Lead Paint Rage On in California

Three paint manufacturers who have been in a tug-of-war with several California counties regarding potential liability for lead paint resorted to a state balloting process to shift the potential exposure. The battle started to intensify earlier this year when the California Supreme Court declined to review a 2014 state appeals court ruling that held manufacturers Sherwin-Williams Co., NL Industries Inc. and ConAgra Grocery Products Co. liable for $1.15 billion dollars in costs associated with remediation of lead paint in housing built before 1951 in California, …

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California / Emerging Issues
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The Roundup Windup

Widespread personal injury litigation based on exposure to Roundup, the widely-used pesticide produced by the Monsanto Company, is no longer a plaintiffs’ bar pipe-dream — it is close to becoming a reality. Hundreds of cases have been filed, mostly in St. Louis and San Francisco, and the first trial of such a matter will commence this week in California state court.

As we have reported previously, there has been broad and long-running controversy over whether glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, may be carcinogenic to …

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California / Climate Change
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400 Months and Counting – Warm Temperatures Continue!

Despite the miserable cold and wet April weather experienced by most of the eastern half of North America, April 2018 turned out to be the third warmest April on record, continuing a streak of 400 continuous months (33 years) where the monthly average temperature was above the 20th century average. Only April 2016 and April 2017 were warmer. Nine of the 10 warmest Aprils have occurred since 2005. Especially notable was the possibility that the city of Nawabshah, located in the southern part of Pakistan, …

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California / Wildfires
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How Clean is Clean? Environmental Issues Hamper CA Wildfire Recovery

Late last year, we reported on the looming environmental threat of the 2017 California wildfires. The threat has become reality with respect to two contaminants in particular: benzene and arsenic.

As reconstruction moves forward in Northern California this year, real human health hazards created by the devastating fires are now present. Municipal officials in Fountaingrove, California have found elevated benzene readings in hundreds of samples of drinking water over the last several months, and the city is evaluating the necessity of replacing large portions of …

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California
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Rounded Down: An Update on California Glyphosate Litigation

Last November, we brought your attention to litigation in federal court in California regarding the listing of glyphosate as a substance “known to the state to cause cancer.” Since then, there have been developments in both the originally reported federal court case and a state court case on the same subject.

First, a refresher: glyphosate is a common pesticide sprayed on more than 200 types of crops across four million acres in California. Monsanto Company, the principal plaintiff in both cases, produces glyphosate in …

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California / EPA
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The Coming Battle Between California and EPA Over Vehicle Fuel Standards — The Implications for CO2 Emissions and Climate Change

Two weeks ago, we reported on potential moves by the EPA to weaken fuel economy standards, and in doing so, picking a fight with California and the state’s ability to set its own emission rules through its waiver under the Clean Air Act. Those threatened moves are now reality, as the EPA announced on Monday that current fuel economy standards will be revised.

But underlying the moves to roll back fuel economy standards is the ongoing war between the Trump Administration’s EPA and efforts to …

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California / Clean Air Act / EPA
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Cutting out the CARBs: EPA Administrator Suggests Possible Split with California on Emission Standards

Scott Pruitt, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), recently discussed a broad range of issues in an interview with Bloomberg TV. Chief among those, Pruitt stated that the EPA is opposed to setting stricter fuel economy standards beyond 2025 and has questioned whether individual states should be able to enact their own tougher emissions rules for cars and light trucks. Pruitt said that California, which has a waiver under the 1970 Clean Air Act giving it authority to set its own emissions standards, …

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