by Williams Cedar, LLC | Feb 6, 2026 | Environmental Law
In a shocking reversal of its longstanding policy, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that it will no longer include the cost to human health and safety when determining appropriate regulations for air pollution. Instead, the focus will be on the cost to private companies when setting regulatory limits. This means that these regulations are likely to become far weaker over time, or may be repealed entirely, to the detriment of the average citizen.
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by Williams Cedar, LLC | Dec 4, 2025 | Environmental Law
A mistaken delivery from a heating oil company resulted in a Medford, MA home being flooded with nearly 400 gallons of oil. This horrific accident required specialized cleanup, and resulted in extensive damage to the victim’s home. However, this incident highlights the dangers that can come from heating oil spills, which are far more common than most people realize.
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by Williams Cedar, LLC | Nov 7, 2025 | Environmental Law, Product Liability Law
According to a recent article published by Consumer Reports, no less than 23 popular brands of protein powder were found to have lead contamination above their “level of concern.” While most of these brands did not have high enough levels of lead to be considered dangerous under normal circumstances, it still points to the potential dangers associated with these products. It also brings into question whether use of these dietary supplements is worth the potential health risks associated with lead exposure.
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by Williams Cedar, LLC | Oct 10, 2025 | Environmental Law
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that it is ending its Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP), effectively halting the federal requirement of polluters to report how much greenhouse gases they release into the atmosphere. As a result, there will be substantially less information about how many of these emissions are being put into the atmosphere every year. This is part of a broader effort by the Trump Administration to reduce regulation of the energy industry, and hinder broader efforts to fight climate change.
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by Williams Cedar, LLC | Aug 1, 2025 | Environmental Law
PLAINTIFFS REACH SETTLEMENT WITH DUPONT de NUMOURS, INC. IN HOOSICK FALLS CLASS ACTION
In late 2015, residents of Hoosick Falls, New York discovered that their drinking water was contaminated with PFOA, a toxin in the PFAS family of compounds called “forever chemicals” because of their persistence in the environment and exposed humans. Since then, Williams Cedar has been a part of the trial team litigating the residents’ claims on two fronts: multiple individual suits for illnesses due to exposure, and a class action seeking damages for property devaluation and medical monitoring, among other claims. Defendants included local industries that used PFOA in fabric-coating operations, and the manufacturers who supplied the local industries with PFOA, including DuPont.
By late 2021, plaintiffs were able to settle most of the individual claims with all defendants, and reached a court-approved settlement of the class action with every defendant except DuPont. Now, DuPont has agreed to pay $27 million to resolve the class claims against it. The settlement, if approved by the court, would include $6 million to supplement a medical monitoring program established under the prior settlement. Upon approval, the settlement with DuPont would make the total class recovery $92 million when combined with the earlier settlement.
Williams Cedar partner Gerald Williams is proud to have worked with our excellent co-counsel and to have helped achieve a measure of justice for Hoosick Falls residents.
Williams Cedar is dedicated to helping clients with personal injury, civil rights and environmental “toxic tort” cases. If you need legal assistance with any such matters, please call us at (215) 557-0099 or visit our contact page.
by Williams Cedar, LLC | Jul 24, 2025 | Firm News, Environmental Law
Williams Cedar Partner Says Proposed Policy Reversals Put Millions at Risk from Pollution
HADDONFIELD, N.J., July 23, 2025 — A prominent environmental attorney is sounding the alarm over a newly proposed EPA rollback that could sharply weaken America’s ability to fight climate change — and seriously endanger public health.
Gerald Williams, partner at the environmental law firm Williams Cedar LLC, says the Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to rescind a long-standing scientific finding — known as the “endangerment finding” — would undermine decades of progress in curbing greenhouse gas emissions and open the door to increased air, water, and land pollution.
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