Mo. Federal Judge Tosses Strict Liability Claim in Water Contamination Case

ST. LOUIS — A Missouri federal judge has dismissed a strict liability claim in a $5 million putative class action accusing SRG Global Coatings LLC of contaminating a nearby town’s drinking water, ruling that its manufacturing and remediation activities do not qualify as “abnormally dangerous” under state law.

In a June 6 order, Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. found the plaintiff failed to plead either that the risks inherent to remediation cannot be eliminated nor that the harm of the remediation outweighs the value of the activity.

“Further, plaintiff identifies no Missouri case to support her claim that defendant’s …