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Dearborn Heights council authorizes special counsel to pursue PFAS drinking‑water settlement claims
Summary
The council voted to retain local and national law firms on contingency to assess and pursue the city—or potential recovery from PFAS (referred to in the meeting as PAS/PEOS) drinking-water settlements; firms will advance testing costs and only collect fees from recovery.
The Dearborn Heights City Council on June 9 adopted a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute legal‑services agreements with outside counsel to evaluate and, if appropriate, pursue the city—or compensation in the ongoing national multi‑district litigation over PFAS contamination of drinking water.
City staff and outside counsel explained that the proposed arrangements would operate on a contingency basis: the firms would advance testing and litigation costs and would receive a contingent percentage of any recovery, meaning the city would pay no fees or recoverable costs if there is no recovery. Assistant city counsel and two outside lawyers — Mr. Huth (local counsel) and Ashley Luza (environmental litigator) — described the mechanics and how municipalities document cost recovery by testing water prior to treatment.
Ashley Luza, who said her firm has worked with roughly 400 communities in similar litigation, told council that cooperating with a water provider to test “before the treatment” can document the city’s cost of treatment and support a settlement claim. "It's essentially a cost‑recovery class action," Luza said, adding that some communities have already received payments in related settlements.
Council members asked whether recovered funds would carry restrictions on spending. Counsel said settlement payments typically come to the municipality without statutory spending strings, but the council retains the authority to designate recovered funds for specific uses (for example, water system improvements) if it chooses.
The resolution passed on the council floor. Staff emphasized a June 30–July 1 deadline to opt into the processes described by counsel so that timely testing and qualification can occur.
Next steps include executing the legal‑services agreement, coordinating water sampling and qualification testing with the city’s water utility, and returning to council with any formal settlement offers or recommendations for earmarking funds.
