[10-minute read]

Contamination doesn't know property lines.

As of 2024, there are estimated to be just under 15,000 contaminated sites in New Jersey undergoing investigation, delineation and/or remediation.  As we have stated in the past, contamination does not know, nor recognize, property boundaries, and one man's contamination commonly seeps onto/under a neighbor's parcel. It happens frequently.

The good news is that any third-party contamination emanating onto your property is not your legal responsibility to address. However, that does not mean there is no risk to you, as an innocent, proximate neighbor.

[20-minute read]

In the world of PFAS.

PFAS compounds have been in commercial use for 80+ years and the contamination has spread worldwide. Even if PFAS use ended today, there will be residual chemicals in the environment for decades. Therefore, we need to find ways to ‘fix’ the PFAS problem. This dilemma has been studied for years and the most cost-effective solution to remediating has proven elusive — given the breadth of the problem, a marketable solution is considered the holy grail in environmental cleanup circles.

Addressing PFAS contamination varies by media, in today’s blog we focus on how to best remove PFAS from potable water, groundwater and soils.

[14-minute read]

Strict clean-up standards are starting to emerge.

The regulatory landscape for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) standards had been in flux for years on both the Federal (i.e., the United States Environmental Protection Agency [EPA]) and state levels, a bit of the Wild West. Recently, however, cleanup standards have been starting to coalesce, skewing toward the strict end of the spectrum — good for overall public health and the environment, no-so-good for the private sector responsible party pocketbook.

[20-minute read]

PFAS are a nationwide hot-button issue.

Our last blog, A PFAS Update: The Forever Chemicals, discussed the history, use, and effects of PFAS in our everyday lives; that narrative ended with a question: Why PFAS are becoming a hot-button, nationwide, environmental issue? 

In a word, the reason is litigation.

Namely, litigation relating to PFAS contamination and the ill-effects of PFAS compounds on both humans and the environment has thrust this class of man-made compounds front and center.

[12-minute read]

In 2020, our firm penned two successive newsletters on an emerging group of contaminants, known by the umbrella name PFAS.

A lot has happened since 2020 on the PFAS front.

Given the increased interest in the topic, we will publish a series of articles summarizing recent developments. The first article is a PFAS Primer.

It delves into how the PFAS trajectory can be best captured in three words: Lawsuits, Standards, and Solutions. Why? There have been numerous PFAS lawsuits, with billions of dollars in play; a patchwork of new Federal and State regulatory standards; and emerging solutions coming into play to successfully and economically break down these chemicals.