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City attorney recommends joining PFAS multidistrict litigation group on contingency; council agrees to place agreement on next agenda
Summary
Libby’s city attorney recommended entering contingency legal agreements to join PFAS multidistrict litigation to preserve the city's claim window; council directed staff to place the draft agreement on the next meeting agenda for approval.
City Attorney Chisholm recommended that Libby enter contingency agreements with law firms handling nationwide multidistrict litigation (MDL) over PFAS contamination.
Chisholm told the council that recent municipal testing has not shown a high PFAS level but that PFAS detection can be elusive, requires repeated testing, and that some municipalities have joined MDL efforts as a precaution. He said the MDL coordinator has set a December 31 deadline for municipalities to join and that failing to join by the deadline could bar later claims if contamination is discovered. The proposed contingency agreements would require no attorney fees unless recovery is obtained for the city, in which case the firms would be paid as agreed in the contingent fee contract.
Council members expressed few questions and signaled consensus to move the draft agreement forward for formal approval at the next meeting. Chisholm said the item will be placed on the next meeting agenda for a vote. No final contract was executed during the session.
