Catch the latest updates on what’s happening with PFAS in the Great Lakes region. Check back for more PFAS news roundups every other week on our website.
On Tuesday, April 1, Susan Crawford won Wisconsin’s contentious Supreme Court election. The Wisconsin high court is currently considering a case about the enforcement of the state’s 1978 Spill Law, that requires people or companies who are discharging hazardous waste to minimize harmful effects. According to reporting from Wisconsin Watch, the lawsuit filed in 2021 by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) — the state’s most powerful business lobby — argues that the Department of Natural Resources cannot require people to test and then remediate PFAS since the agency had not yet formally designated the chemicals as “hazardous substances.”
More from Wisconsin Watch:
“The court’s liberal justices seemed skeptical of WMC’s position during oral arguments in January.
WMC has been a perennial spender in state Supreme Court races. It spent some $2 million targeting Crawford during this year’s race.
Any forthcoming ruling in favor of the DNR is likely safe with Crawford on the court. She was endorsed during the campaign by Wisconsin Conservation Voters.”
A bill passed in the Illinois House to ban “forever chemicals” from cosmetic products. The bill will now move to the state Senate for further debate. In Michigan, Sue Shink (D-Ann Arbor) is co-sponsoring Senate Bill 735 that would require warning labels on consumer products with PFAS, in order to help consumers make informed choices.
There are also growing concerns about how the recent Supreme Court ruling limiting the EPA’s authority to issue broad water pollution permits under the Clean Water Act will impact PFAS pollution in cities with combined sewer overflows, according to The Allegheny Front.
More PFAS news in case you missed it:
- From Civil Eats: “Why Are Pesticide Companies Fighting State Laws to Address PFAS?”
- Two U.S. lawmakers are trying to repeal a 2024 Biden rule that closed a “low volume exemption” loophole. Meaning that if it’s repealed, “PFAS and chemicals produced in small enough quantities could be sent to the marketplace with virtually no review from federal regulators.”
- More reporting from The Guardian: “Trump officials quietly move to reverse bans on toxic ‘forever chemicals’.”
- How “States Are Banning Forever Chemicals. Industry Is Fighting Back,” from Wired.
- Texas Ranchers say livestock became sick from PFAS in fertilizer, made from sewage sludge. Now, Goldman Sachs-backed firm Synagro has lost a deal to manufacture there, according to The New York Times.
Catch more news at Great Lakes Now:
PFAS bill protecting utilities companies passes in Indiana House and Senate
Cancer-causing PFAS to be added to Canada’s toxic substance list
Featured image: Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. (Photo Credit: iStock)
