Davis, Johnston, & Ringger, PC

06/03/2025

On May 12, 2025, Davis, Johnston, & Ringger partner Billy Ringger spoke to students and faculty at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York City. He was joined by colleagues Joseph Graziano, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Environmental Health Sciences and Pharmacology at Columbia University; Norman Kleiman, PhD, Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia University; and Angela Hind, MD, Environmental and Medicolegal Consultant from Asheville, North Carolina. Speaking before students and faculty in the Joseph Graziano Conference Room, as well as online, the group presented "The Kingston Coal Ash Disaster: a case study of how lawyers, doctors, and scientists can work together to effect change and influence environmental health policy." The seminar provided a historical overview of the Kingston coal ash disaster, the legal issues involved, and how scientific-legal partnerships were able to establish the link between coal ash exposure and adverse health outcomes among the Kingston coal ash remediation workers, furthering the scientific understanding of coal ash exposure, and ultimately achieving an unprecedented successful settlement for the workers and their families.

04/28/2025

DAVIS, JOHNSTON, & RINGGER ACHIEVES CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT PROVIDING TEMPORARY, CLEAN DRINKING WATER TO CITIZENS OF SUMMERVILLE, GEORGIA

The federal District Court for the Northern District of Georgia recently approved the first class settlement to provide temporary, clean drinking water in Summerville, Georgia. The case on behalf of the city's water users demonstrated that Summerville's drinking water supply is contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which have migrated from farm fields into the watershed where Summerville draws its drinking water. Two specific chemicals – PFOA and PFOS – have been detected at concentrations several times higher than the EPA safe drinking water levels. The chemicals were used at the Mount Vernon Mills textile mill in nearby Trion, Georgia, and discharged to the Trion wastewater treatment plant, which spread the sludge from its wastewater facility onto farm fields in the area.

Under this initial settlement with one of several defendants, a temporary drinking water fund will be created with $1 million provided specifically by Pulcra Chemicals, LLC, so that clean bottled water or under-sink filters can be provided to current Summerville water customers. The Fund will be established in the next two weeks, and a Settlement Administrator will coordinate water deliveries and under-sink filters free of charge to members of the community.

Two other class settlements have been preliminarily approved to expand the drinking water fund, with the goal of providing clean drinking water to Summerville water users until the city has constructed a new, permanent drinking water treatment system that will remove PFOA and PFOS. Other settlements, with defendants Huntsman International, LLC, Mount Vernon Mills, Inc., and the Town of Trion, will be considered for final approval by the Court in June.

The City of Summerville has also settled with Pulcra. Proceeds of the City’s settlement with Pulcra will go towards assisting the City with moving forward with engineering design and ultimately the construction of permanent improvements to remove PFOA and PFOS and other PFAS chemicals from the City’s drinking water and/or wastewater systems.

Earl Parris, Jr., the plaintiff and class representative, is a former Summerville City Council member, who has been seeking clean water for Summerville since filing the class action lawsuit in 2021. He stated, “we are extremely happy to have accomplished the first step in court today. The people of Summerville should not have to drink water with toxic PFAS, and we will continue fighting until the chemical companies who profited from their use remove them from our drinking water.”

Davis, Johnston, & Ringger has represented Mr. Parris and the proposed class since the inception of the lawsuit in 2021, and the firm is proud to have achieved this landmark victory for the citizens of Summerville.

06/05/2024

Davis, Johnston, & Ringger partner Billy Ringger was recently honored by the SASS-ARENA Foundation for Medical Research at its annual Gala earlier this month in New York City. Billy spoke before a large crowd and proudly accepted the foundation’s “Business Leadership Award” for his efforts in formulating the scientific team whose precedent-setting collaboration established the causal link between coal ash exposure and a myriad of medical conditions present among the Kingston coal ash remediation workers. Davis, Johnston, & Ringger partners Gary Davis and Keith Johnston were also in attendance, as well as several members of the coal ash expert team, including Elizabeth Ward, PhD, Epidemiologist and Chair of the World Trade Center Science Advisory Committee; Joseph Graziano, PhD, Professor Emeritus at Columbia University; Norman Kleiman, PhD, Professor of Environmental Health Science at Columbia University; Francis Arena, MD, Clinical Professor at the NYU School of Medicine and Medical Director at NYU Langone Arena Oncology; Angela Hind, MD, Toxin and Health Expert from Asheville, North Carolina; and Fred Grello, MD, Medicolegal Consultant from Knoxville, Tennessee. Billy’s parents, Bill and Sue Ringger, also travelled to NYC to enjoy the evening with their son.

05/30/2024

Davis, Johnston, & Ringger partner Billy Ringger recently spoke at the 42nd annual Public Interest Environmental Law Conference (PIELC) in Eugene, Oregon. Billy led a panel presentation before a large group of attendees regarding the dangers of coal ash exposure and his successful efforts in litigating the worker injury cases arising from the TVA Kingston Coal Ash Spill –the largest industrial spill in United States history. Billy was joined by colleagues Norman Kleiman, PhD of Columbia University and Angela Hind, MD, Toxin and Health Expert from Asheville, North Carolina.

05/01/2024

PROMINENT ENVIRONMENTAL LAWYERS JOIN FORCES TO FORM DAVIS, JOHNSTON, & RINGGER, PC, WITH COMMON GOAL OF PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT AND MAKING POLLUTERS PAY.

‎‎Asheville, NC, May 1, 2024 – Renowned environmental lawyer Gary Davis – founder and long-time owner of Davis Environmental Attorneys in Asheville, North Carolina – has partnered with prominent environmental attorneys Keith Johnston and Billy Ringger to form the new law firm Davis, Johnston, & Ringger, PC.

Davis has over 44 years of experience in environmental and administrative law, litigation, and policy. Davis’ unparalleled reputation in the environmental law profession, coupled with his partnership with Johnston and Ringger, will further enhance the reach, depth, and abilities of the firm.

“This partnership will combine decades of environmental litigation experience and a promise of continued excellence in the legal profession for many years to come,” Davis said.

Johnston and Ringger each have substantial environmental experience as well. Johnston has practiced environmental and energy law for 20 years in both the public and private sectors, spanning all three branches of state and federal government. He spent the last year and a half with Davis Environmental Attorneys and previously led the Southern Environmental Law Center’s Birmingham, Alabama office for 12 years. Prior to this, he clerked for a judge in Alaska and practiced environmental law in Washington, D.C., where he worked on toxic torts and other matters.

Ringger, an expert in health-based litigation, has represented groups of individuals and municipalities in some of the largest environmental and toxic exposure cases in recent history. Ringger was formerly a partner at a large international plaintiffs’ firm specializing in class action and mass tort litigation. For several years, he served as lead counsel representing the hundreds of workers sickened due to their exposures to coal ash during remediation of the Tennessee Valley Authority Kingston Coal Ash Spill – the largest industrial spill in United States history. Building on the initial trial success of the Davis firm, his multi-year efforts were pivotal in obtaining a successful resolution for these injured workers in 2023. Earlier in his career, Ringger practiced with a prominent litigation firm in Knoxville, TN, and served as law clerk and Chief of Staff to the Chief Justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court.

Davis’ firm has for decades represented environmental damage victims, community groups, environmental organizations, state and local governments, and individual clients throughout the country with a focus on the Southeast. As like-minded environmental advocates, Davis, Johnston, & Ringger say they are excited to continue these public interest pursuits with their new partnership and the increased capabilities they will be able to devote to their clients.

The new firm will continue aggressively litigating on behalf of its clients, protecting the environment from the devastating effects of pollution, and making polluters pay for the damages they have caused.

Pursuing environmental cases throughout the country, the firm will continue to be based in Asheville, NC, with additional presence in Knoxville, TN.

Contact Davis, Johnston, & Ringger at (828) 622-0044 or visit online at www.enviroattorney.com for more information.

04/21/2022

https://enviroattorney.com/court-grants-final-approval-of-34-million-settlement-in-bennington-pfas-case/

On Monday, April 18, 2022, U.S. District Court Judge Geoffrey Crawford issued a Final Approval Order granting a $34 million class-action settlement in Bennington, Vermont. The decision marked the end of a six-year lawsuit over the contamination of drinking wells in Bennington with PFOA (perfluorooct...

01/12/2022

Davis & Whitlock, P.C. is pleased to announce that firm partner Jamie Whitlock has, for a second year in a row, been recognized by his peers in the 2022 edition of Business North Carolina's Legal Elite, a listing of the State's best practitioners in their fields. This year, only 3 percent of the state's 28,000 active attorneys were selected for Legal Elite recognition. Jamie was, for the second year in a row, recognized in the Environmental category.

Since 2002, Business North Carolina magazine has honored Tar Heel lawyers by publishing Business North Carolina's Legal Elite,

11/12/2021

After more than five years of efforts on behalf of Bennington, VT area citizens, Davis & Whitlock and its Vermont partners are pleased to announce a settlement that both compensates property owners for PFOA contamination and provides medical monitoring for eligible residents:

Lawyers representing Bennington, Vermont residents have announced a settlement with Saint-Gobain over PFAS contamination.

01/28/2021

https://businessnc.com/special-sections/legal-elite/

Davis & Whitlock is proud to announce that Business North Carolina has named Jamie Whitlock to the 2021 North Carolina Legal Elite for Environmental Law. This is the magazine's annual listing of the State's top lawyers, and Jamie is honored to be included among so many of North Carolina's best lawyers.

01/27/2021

Davis & Whitlock and Co-Counsel Optimistic for Trial Date in Vermont PFOA Class Action

BENNINGTON — The pace of a class-action suit over PFOA contamination of groundwater in sections of Bennington has been slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic, attorneys for the hundreds of plaintiffs

01/15/2021

https://www.fox46.com/news/5-months-after-colonial-pipeline-gas-leak-huntersville-neighbors-discover-clean-up-could-take-years/

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (FOX 46 CHARLOTTE)- There are a pair of signs in a neighborhood just off Concord-Huntersville Road that only gives an inkling on what us directly underneath it. At the entrance …