The Environmental Protection Agency wants to end a landmark lawsuit it brought against Inhance Technologies LLC and its plastic container fluorination process after a federal appeals court ruled the agency overstepped its regulatory powers.
EPA told a U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania May 12 it wants to dismiss its lawsuit against Inhance, following a March decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans that ruled against it in a related case dealing with coatings on high density polyethylene containers.
But it may not be a given that the case will be dismissed.
Judge John Murphy in federal court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has asked the parties and intervenors for briefs by May 17 on whether the case should be dismissed, and if EPA is removed, whether the case should continue.
The case could tread new ground in regulating so-called forever chemicals, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
Public health groups, including Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), filed their own case against Inhance in late 2022, asking a different federal court, in Washington, to force EPA to stop Inhance from using its fluorination process to coat HDPE containers.
Those groups said EPA brought its case in Pennsylvania after they first threatened to sue.
The appeals court ruling that prompted EPA to seek dismissal of the Pennsylvania case came after the agency in December issued an administrative order directing Inhance to stop its fluorination coating process.
EPA said the coating produces toxic PFAS chemicals that can contaminate drinking water. But Inhance challenged that order in the federal appellate court in New Orleans. That court ruled that EPA has the power to regulate Inhance's process but objected to how the agency was using its authority.
Following that court decision, PEER and other groups in April formally petitioned the EPA to establish new regulations for the fluorination of plastic containers.