Firefighters from 13 local fire departments fight a fire at the Thermofil In. plastics facility in Brighton, Mich. in this 1998 photo. (FIle photo | MLive, Ann Arbor News).BPN
HOWELL, MI — Litigation between the state of Michigan and the former owner of a Brighton factory contaminated with toxic PFAS chemicals will be tried this winter.
Livingston County Judge Michael Hatty set a Dec. 12 trial date in a case filed against Asahi Kasei Plastics North America, (APNA), by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.
The trial date was previously pushed from June to September. The case was originally part of a batch filed in 2020. It was later separated and transferred to Livingston County.
Hatty agreed to delay the trial at Asahi’s request on Thursday, April 21. He also ordered the company to produce documents about its use of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), or Teflon — a synthetic nonstick coating that can break down into individual PFAS chemicals.
More: First Michigan PFAS trial set for 2022
“They backhandedly got their extension,” said Joseph Callow, a partner at Keating Muething & Klekamp, an Ohio firm which is part of a group of outside firms called the Fields Team that’s litigating Michigan PFAS cases under special contract.
Callow said the state believes PTFE at the site degraded into the individual compound PFOA during a 1998 fire at the former Thermofil factory in Brighton.
The state wants Hatty to order that Ashai must perform cleanup and reimburse the cost of investigation and site monitoring, as well as pay natural resource damages that typically include money to offset environmental harm.
“This is going to be the first PFAS trial in the state and we’re excited that, whatever happens in the next couple months, that we’ve got a pretty firm trial date,” Callow said.
To date, the state of Michigan has identified 208 sites in Michigan where the groundwater is polluted by PFAS chemicals, which are linked to a host of chronic health problems like thyroid disease, pregnancy issues and cancer.
Michigan sues farm polluting the Kalamazoo River
High PFAS found in rainbow smelt across Michigan
Bill would aid PFAS-exposed veterans
Michigan seeks cleanup of Kalamazoo River ‘disaster’
Superfund listing eyed for Wolverine PFAS sites
Wolverine Worldwide plant caught in PFAS probe
Nessel claims AFFF makers hid risks in new lawsuit
Michigan sues 17 companies over PFAS pollution
Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.
Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your California Privacy Rights (User Agreement updated 1/1/21. Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement updated 5/1/2021).
© 2022 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local.
Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site.