PEER: DOJ is falling short of protecting the public from PFAS
DOJ failed to seek an injunction to stop Inhance’s unlawful conduct, allowing these violations to continue to put millions of people at risk.
Today the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) are expressing concerns that a recent court filing by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Environmental Protection (EPA) will allow Inhance Technologies USA of Houston, Texas, to continue to generate toxic PFAS or “forever chemicals” when fluorinating plastic containers, in violation of federal law.
In a filing last night, DOJ asked the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for a declaratory judgment that Inhance is failing to comply with the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) by creatingnine toxic PFAS prohibited by a 2020 EPA Significant New Use Rule (SNUR) during the fluorination of tens of millions of plastic containers and bottles. PEER and CEH agree that Inhance’s violations of the law are clearcut and egregious. However, the DOJ motion failed to seek an injunction to stop Inhance’s unlawful conduct, allowing these dangerous violations of TSCA to continue to put millions of people at risk.