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Fostoria law director seeks Toledo-based firm for PFAS claims; city reports no PFAS detected in water
Summary
The law director told council she has begun the process to join class actions against manufacturers and recommends replacing prior counsel with a Toledo-based firm, Schumacher (Douglas Hainem). She said city testing has found no PFAS detections but staff are signing up for potential funds and special claims for future events.
Fostoria's law director told City Council she is amending pending legislation to contract with a different law firm to pursue potential claims related to PFAS "forever chemicals." The director recommended a Toledo-based firm led by attorney Douglas Hainem at Schumacher and said she had started the submission process necessary to participate in funds distributed through class actions. The law director said the city has not detected PFAS in its water treatment plant: "There has been no detection. We've had no detection of PFAS. So it is below that level the EPA requires us to to test for," she said. She added the city has not spent money on remediation because tests show no detection, but staff are pursuing sign-up for possible awards and will submit special-claim documentation by the end of the week. She said the initial litigation phase already filed includes DuPont and 3M as defendants; the city is positioning to qualify for later-phase claims that distribute settlement funds. "All we're doing is signing up so that if they do awards, we'll get part of it like the opioid money," the law director said. Council discussed that an amended ordinance to change legal representation constituted the second reading after members voted to amend language to reflect the new firm. Why it matters: joining class-action or multi-party litigation could make the city eligible for distributed funds if manufacturers are found liable and awards are issued; the city stressed that, to date, it has detected no PFAS in treatment-plant testing and has not spent local money on PFAS remediation. Next steps: the law director said she expects a conference with the proposed attorney and to circulate a retainer document for council approval before a final reading or vote on legal retention.
