Vermont Federal Court Refuses to Stay PFOA Contamination Case in Light of Challenges to State Standards

BURLINGTON, Vt. –– A Vermont federal court has refused to stay a PFOA groundwater contamination class action lawsuit, saying that the defendant’s challenges to state standards will not interfere with the underlying case since the standards “will not be necessary to adjudicate Plaintiffs’ claims.”

In the Dec. 28 ruling, the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont found that the resolution of the enforcement standard for PFOA concentrations will have “little bearing on resolution of Plaintiffs’ state-law tort claims.”

The plaintiffs filed the putative class action lawsuit against Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp., contending that the defendant, and its predecessor …