Issue - July 15, 2025

In partnership with

Good morning. It’s Tuesday, July 15, and this week’s ESG Litigation Weekly covers DuPont’s US$27 million PFAS deal, Spain’s landmark pig-farm rights ruling, China’s first renewable-power quotas for heavy industry, India’s coal-plant SO₂ rollback, and much more.

⚖️ ESG Casefile

DuPont Settles Hoosick Falls PFAS Lawsuit for US$27 Million
DuPont has reached a US$27 million settlement to resolve a class action alleging that its perfluorooctanoic acid polluted the Hoosick Falls, New York water supply. The deal still requires preliminary approval from the federal court in Albany. Roughly US$6 million will fund a ten-year medical-monitoring program, with the balance compensating property owners for lost value. Adding the settlement to an earlier US$65 million agreement with 3M, Saint-Gobain, and Honeywell raises total recovery for residents above US$92 million. DuPont denies liability but chose to settle rather than face trial.
🔗 Read more → The New York Times

Spanish Court Says Pig Farm Pollution Violated Human Rights
The High Court of Galicia has ruled that Spanish national and regional authorities breached residents’ constitutional and European human rights by failing to stop decades of unchecked pig and poultry waste in the A Limia region. Judges cited evidence of nitrate levels up to 1,000 times normal, antibiotic-resistant superbugs, and foul odours that forced villagers to avoid their wells and even stay indoors. The Xunta de Galicia and the Miño-Sil River Basin Authority must now act at once to end the contamination and restore the As Conchas reservoir. Lawyers supporting the case say the decision opens the door for similar actions across Europe.
🔗 Read more → Euronews

Oklahoma Targets Poultry Giants Over Illinois River Runoff
Oklahoma has asked a federal court to fine Tyson Foods, Cargill, Simmons Foods, George's, and Cal-Maine about US$104 million for decades of phosphorus pollution that fueled algae blooms and clouded the Illinois River. The proposed judgment would also prohibit spreading poultry litter on high-phosphorus soils in the watershed and create a court-appointed special master, funded by the companies with an initial US$10 million deposit, to direct soil cleanup and monitoring. Judge Gregory Frizzell, who ruled in 2023 that the companies knowingly polluted the river, will now decide whether to adopt the order. The companies must file their response by 30 July.
🔗 Read more → The Frontier

Groups Sue Bonneville Power Over Costly Market Choice
Five Northwest energy and conservation groups have asked the Ninth Circuit to overturn the Bonneville Power Administration’s (BPA) May decision to join the Markets+ electricity market. They argue the move will raise power bills, weaken grid reliability, and limit access to clean energy, violating the Northwest Power Act and the National Environmental Policy Act because BPA skipped an environmental review. Analyses using BPA’s data show the agency passed up an estimated US$4.4 billion in regional savings that could have been achieved by joining the larger Extended-Day-Ahead Market instead. Petitioners also say the choice threatens salmon and other wildlife protected under federal law. The court filing seeks a full review and corrective action.
🔗 Read more → Earthjustice

Hunters Point Radioactive Cleanup Suit Moves Toward December Trial
A federal judge in San Francisco has refused to dismiss or summarily decide multiple lawsuits accusing contractor Tetra Tech of falsifying soil tests during the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard cleanup. Land developers Five Point Holdings and Lennar say the misconduct, uncovered in 2018, derailed a US$250 million remediation project and left them facing hefty losses. Judge James Donato ruled that disputed facts must be resolved by a jury and set a trial for 8 December 2025, urging the parties to address a “mountain” of expert‐witness motions first. Tetra Tech and the United States could face compensatory, punitive, and exemplary damages if found liable.
🔗 Read more → Courthouse News Service

🏛️ Regulatory Developments

China Issues First Renewable Power Mandates for Heavy Industry
China’s National Development and Reform Commission has extended its renewable portfolio standards to the steel, cement, and polysilicon sectors and new data centres. Each province now has specific minimum shares of renewable electricity that these facilities must source, with 2025 targets ranging from 70% in hydropower-rich Yunnan to 24.2% in Fujian. Non-hydro quotas reach 30% in wind- and solar-strong regions such as Inner Mongolia, Gansu, and Qinghai, and rise again for 2026. Analysts say the rules will drive industrial demand for green power and shape pricing under China’s contract-for-difference scheme.
🔗 Read more → Reuters

India Relaxes Sulphur Controls for Coal Plants
The Environment Ministry has exempted 78 percent of India’s 600 thermal power plant units from installing flue-gas desulphurisation equipment, limiting mandatory retrofits to units near the National Capital Region or cities with over one million people by December 2027. Plants near critically polluted zones may face case-by-case requirements with a 2028 deadline, while all other units are exempt. Officials say ambient SO₂ levels and the low sulphur content of Indian coal make wide-scale FGD unnecessary, but clean-air experts warn the move will worsen fine-particle pollution and public-health risks across state lines.
🔗 Read more → The Hindu

California Clarifies Climate Disclosure Rules for Large Companies
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has issued a seven-page FAQ that explains how it will turn the state’s new corporate greenhouse-gas reporting and climate-risk laws into binding regulations. Companies with more than US$1 billion in revenue that do business in California must disclose Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions in 2026, with Scope 3 following in 2027, while firms earning at least US$500 million must publish their first climate-related financial risk report by 1 January 2026. Draft definitions for “doing business in California,” revenue thresholds, and parent-subsidiary attribution are open for public comment as CARB works toward final rules by year-end. The agency also says it will exercise limited enforcement discretion during the first reporting cycle if companies act in good faith.
🔗 Read more → CARB FAQ Document

EU Parliament Rejects Commission’s Deforestation Risk List
The European Parliament has voted to ask the Commission to withdraw and revise its list of countries deemed most at risk under the EU anti-deforestation law. MEPs said the benchmark relies on outdated data and fails to recognise regional differences, noting that Brazil, Indonesia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo were classified only as standard risk while Belarus, North Korea, Russia, and Myanmar were placed in the high-risk tier. The resolution is not binding, but it increases political pressure just months before the new due diligence rules take effect on 30 December.
🔗 Read more → Politico

EFRAG Unveils Draft Simplified ESRS for Consultation
The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has published working documents of “Amended European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) Exposure Draft” that seek to cut the number of mandatory datapoints by more than half, remove all voluntary datapoints, and make narrative disclosures more principle-based. The package clarifies double-materiality assessments, trims overlapping policy-action-target requirements, and offers new reliefs on data quality, value-chain estimates, and commercially sensitive information. A sixty-day public consultation will start at the end of July, after which EFRAG must deliver its final advice to the Commission by 30 November 2025.
🔗 Read more → EFRAG Working Document

🧼 Greenwashing Watch

CCRM Sees Integrity Gap in Corporate Climate Pledges
The 2025 Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor (CCRM) reviewed 55 major companies and found that most net-zero claims still lack clarity and credibility. None of the 20 firms examined in sector deep dives met a “reasonable” standard of integrity. A few companies, e.g., H&M Group, Stellantis, and Apple, earned a “moderate” rating, while data gaps and creative accounting obscure real progress. Researchers say companies need transition-specific targets, such as hourly clean-power sourcing or hard electric-vehicle sales goals, alongside tougher disclosure rules. Without these reforms, they warn, climate strategies will remain at risk of greenwashing.
🔗 Read more → NewClimate Institute

In partnership with Long Angle

A Private Circle for High-Net-Worth Peers

Long Angle is a private, vetted community for high-net-worth entrepreneurs, executives, and professionals across multiple industries. No membership fees.

Connect with primarily self-made, 30-55-year-olds ($5M-$100M net worth) in confidential discussions, peer advisory groups, and live meetups.

Access curated alternative investments like private equity and private credit. With $100M+ invested annually, leverage collective expertise and scale to capture unique opportunities.

Apply to Join

📚 Browse Past Issues

Catch up on previous editions → ESGLitigation.com

🤝 Support & Contact Us

Enjoyed this issue? Feel free to share it with colleagues or ESG/legal professionals.
Have feedback or collaboration ideas? Contact us at [email protected]