Cookware group files lawsuit against Minnesota’s PFAS ban

ST. PAUL — A cookware industry group filed a lawsuit in federal court Monday, Jan. 6, against a new Minnesota law, calling it unconstitutional.

The Cookware Sustainability Alliance filed the complaint against Katrina Kessler, the commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. The complaint seeks a declaration that Amara’s Law, which went into effect on Jan. 1, is unconstitutional and unenforceable.

The law bans the sale and distribution of cookware containing PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” which have been linked to health problems, including cancer. The law covers 11 categories of everyday items including cookware, rugs and menstrual products.

The complaint claims the law discriminates against out-of-state commerce and imposes a burden on interstate commerce. It also alleges the law violates the Commerce Clause in the Constitution. The complaint seeks a declaration that the law is unconstitutional and unenforceable.

A spokesperson for Cozen O’Connor, the law firm representing the alliance, had no comment.

The MPCA said in a statement that it won’t comment on pending litigation, but that it believes the law is “legally sound.”

“It is estimated Minnesota taxpayers will have to spend $28 billion in the next 20 years to remove PFAS from wastewater and landfill leachate in the state,” the statement read. “We simply cannot clean our way out of this problem.”

Mehmet Konar-Steenberg, a law professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law who specializes in constitutional and environmental law, said the plaintiffs appear to question the law’s value.

“They’re saying that this law doesn’t deliver enough public health benefits when compared to the kind of difficulties it creates for out-of-state businesses to conduct business in Minnesota, they’re saying, on balance, this law just isn’t worth it,” he said.

This story was originally published on MPRNews.org