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STATE OF VERMONT

SUPERIOR

COURT

ENVIRONMENTAL

DIVISION

Docket No.

Vtec

IN

RE:

INTERIM

GROUNDWATER

ENFORCEMENT )

STANDARD

FOR

PFOA

NOTICE

OF APPEAL

Pursuant to 10

V.S.A. §§

8503(a)(1)(F) and

8504(a),

and

pursuant to

Rule 5(b)

of the

Vermont

Rules for Environmental

Court

Proceedings,

notice is hereby

given

that

Appellant

Saint-Gobain

Performance P lastics

Corporation

( SGPP ) is

appealing

the designation

of

an

Interim

Groundwater Enforcement

Standard for Perfluorooctanoic

Acid

( PFOA )

the

Interim

Enforcement

Standard )

set

by

the Secretary

of the

Agency of

Natural

Resources, as described in

the

Vermont Department

of

Environmental

Conservation's

(the DEC )

Memorandum,

dated

March 16,

2016 (the March

16

Memorandum ). 

Acopy of

the

March

16

Memorandum

is

attached

hereto as Exhibit

A.

The March 16 Memorandum

states

that

the

designation of

the

Interim

Enforcement Standard is a final

act

of

the

Vermont Agency

of

Natural Resources

that is

appealable to

this

Court pursuant to 10

V.S.A.

Chapter

220.

This

appeal

concerns

a former industrial facility

located at 1030 Water

Street,

North

Bennington, Vermont where

the

DEC

alleges

SGPP

is

responsible for

the

release of

PFOA

(the

Site ).

According to the

DEC,

the

Interim Enforcement

Standard

creates

a groundwater

enforcement

standard

of 20

parts

per

trillion

( ppt )

for

PFOA, imposes

investigatory

and

remedial

obligations,

and

grants the

DEC enforcement

authority for

non-compliance.

Prior to

1 This

appeal is

taken without

waiving

Appellant's

right to

appeal

and

concurrently

filed

appeal

of

the

Interim

Enforcement

Standard to the

Civil

Division of

the

Washington

Superior

Court,

pursuant

to

the

Administrative

Procedures

Act, 3

V.S.A.,

Chapter

25

and

V.R.C.P.

74

and/or 75.

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8/18/2019 Saint-Gobain appeal of Interim Enforcement Standard

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the

Interim

Enforcement

Standard,

there

was no

groundwater

enforcement

standard

for PFOA.

The

Interim

Enforcement

Standard

of 20 ppt

for

PFOA was

designated

without

public comment

and

is based

on

a one-page

health advisory

issued

by the Vermont

Department

of

Health.

The

health

advisory

is

based

solely

on

the

United

States

Environmental

Protection

Agency's

2014

dr ft

Health E ffects

Document for

PFO A still under

consideration.

The DEC

has demanded

that SGPP

take certain

investigatory

and

remedial

actions

at the

Site that will

be subject

to

the Interim

Enforcement

Standard. The

DEC's

purported enforcement

powers for

PFOA were

not available

to the

DEC

before the

designation of

the

Interim

Enforcement Standard,

nor was

SGPP

subject

to

such

a

stringent, unsupported groundwater

enforcement

standard.

SGPP thus has

a particularized

interest

in this

appeal

seeking

to

overturn

the

Interim

Enforcement

Standard,

which

was

adopted

in violation

of

the law and

without

regard

to

the public

participation

and

other

requirements set

forth in

10

V.S.A. §

1392 d), and is

based

solely

on

a

draft

document

that is

still under

review

SGPP,

therefore,

has

standing

to

file

this

appeal as

a

person

aggrieved

pursuant

to 10 V.S.A.

§

8502(7).

Pursuant to

V.R.E.C.P. 5 b) 3)

and

5 c), any

interested

person wishing

to participate

in

this

appeal

must

enter

an

appearance in

writing with

the E nvironmental

Division

within 20 days

of receiving this Notice.

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8/18/2019 Saint-Gobain appeal of Interim Enforcement Standard

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Dated

at Brattleboro, Vermont this

13t h

day of

April, 2016.

DOWNS

RACHLIN

MARTIN PLLC

.

Bradfor

awl

Kane H.

Smart

Attorneys for Appellant

28 Vernon Street #501

Brattleboro,

VT

05301

Tel.:

(802)

258-3070

Email:

bfawley@drm.com

ksmart@drm.com

16625969.1

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EXIRBIT AXHI IT

8/18/2019 Saint-Gobain appeal of Interim Enforcement Standard

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ale

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VERMONT

Department of

Health

Environmental

Health

108

Cherry

Street

— PO

Box

70

Burlington,VT

05402-0070

HealthVermont gov

[phone]

802-863-0357

[fax]

802-863-7483

[toll

free]

800-439 

8550

gency

ofHuman

Services

MEMOR NDUM

TO: Chuck Schwer,

Director Waste Management, DEC

CC:

Matt

Chapm an, General

Counsel, DEC

David

Englander,

Senior

Policy

and

Legal

Advisor,

VDH

FROM:

Sarah

Vose, State

Toxicologist

SU BJEC T: Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) Vermont

Health Advisory

DATE: March 7,

2016

The Department

ofHealth

has

derived a drinking

water

health advisory for

PFOA

of

0.02 ppb,

or

2 0

ppt. This

value was initially provided to

DEC

on February 9, 201 6,

for

the investigation in

North Bennington,

Vermont.

The advisory

is

based

on

the oral reference dose

of

0.00002

mg/kg/day

provided

in

EPA's

draft 20 14 Health Effects Document

for

PFOA

1

  This docum ent is currently under review

within EP A

and is not yet finalized. The Department has no indication that the oral reference

dose provided in this draft document will change. Ifa different oral reference dose,

revised

cancer

toxicity value,

or

additional toxicity values are

provided

in

the final EPA

Health Effects

Document

forPFOA, the Department

will examine the

new information and potentially re

evaluate

the

proposed health advisory.

The

health

advisory

for

PFOA is consistent

with the Departm ent's Drinking

Water

Guidance

and is based on the most

sensitive

receptor, a child 0 1 year

old.

The

proposed

health

advisory

is based

on the

non-cancer

endpoint. The Department looked at the

cancer

endpoint based

on

the information provided

in EPA's

2014

draft

and determined that

derivation

of he

proposed

value

based

on the

noncancer

endpoint

is

most

protective.

The

proposed

value is

based

on

ingestion

only, with a

relative source

contribution

of

20

incorporated

to

account

for

potential exposu re

to

PFOA

from

other sources.

The

Department of

Health requests

this health

advisory

for

PFOA

be

added

to

the

list of

interim

groundwater

quality

standards

  found on your website until the

Groundwater

Protection Rule and Strategy incorporates this value. Vermont's he alth advisories

are

found

on the

Department's w ebsite.3

ftps://peerreview.versar.com/epa/pfoa/pdf/Health-Effects-Document-for-

Perfluorooctanoic-Acid-(PF0A).pdf

2

http://ww w.drinkingwater.vt.gov/dwrules/pdf/interimqwq standards2015 .pdf

3

http://healthvermont.qov/enviro/water/documents/drinkinq

water guidance.pdf