North Georgia landowners who say their properties were contaminated with toxic “forever chemicals” can continue pursuing claims against the city of Calhoun and manufacturers after a judge declined to throw out the cases.
The residents say their land was polluted by sludge from Calhoun’s wastewater treatment plants that the city dumped on or near their properties. In one case, a property owner says they allowed more than 28,000 tons of sludge to be deposited on their land as fertilizer before learning of the contamination.
The plant treated water from nearby carpet and flooring manufacturers that used the chemicals.
“Forever chemicals” is the common name given to a class of thousands of human-made chemical compounds known in lab settings as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or “PFAS” for short. Despite their toxicity, they have been used for decades in a broad array of consumer products, from frying pans to lipstick.
The chemicals, which persist in the environment indefinitely, have been linked to some types of cancer, pregnancy complications and reduced immunity, among other things.
“We believe our clients’ properties and drinking water has been contaminated with (forever chemical), and we seek to hold the companies responsible for the harm done,” Rhon Jones, a lawyer for more than 30 plaintiffs, wrote in a statement.
This year, for the first time, the U.S. Environmental Protection Administration designated two PFAS compounds as hazardous substances under the Superfund law. It also added six PFAS compounds to the list of chemicals utilities have to remove from drinking water.
Although the vast majority of PFAS remain legal and unregulated, litigation over their harm has already cost manufacturers billions and could eventually dwarf earlier industry payouts for tobacco and asbestos. Even that may not be enough to cover the cost to local water systems to pay for enhanced systems to filter out the compounds.
The city of Calhoun has filed its own claim against the manufacturers, which the judge also upheld, rejecting the companies’ bid to have it dismissed. That complaint alleges the city is also a victim of the companies’ actions.
City officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Some of the biggest PFAS producers, including 3M and DuPont, are named alongside about a dozen other chemical and carpet manufacturers in the cases, which were filed earlier this year in Gordon County Superior Court.
Most of the companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 3M said it was reviewing the ruling.
In their bid to have the cases dismissed, chemical and carpet manufacturers argued they broke no laws, had no legal duty to prevent harm to the plaintiffs and should not be held responsible for how the city disposed of its wastewater sludge.
Judge Samir Patel disagreed in a series of rulings last month, pointing to numerous other courts, in Georgia and other jurisdictions, that have ruled against the same parties in similar cases.
He wrote that a reasonable jury could find that manufacturers breached the legal duty to prevent harm that comes with the sale, supply and use of “persistent, bio-accumulative and toxic chemicals,” especially if they are found to have concealed risks. The fact that the chemicals were or are unregulated does not relieve the plaintiffs of this duty, he added.
“ … (E)ach Defendant had the right to abate their contribution to the alleged nuisance,” Patel wrote in his ruling. “(T)hey could stop selling, using, accepting or discharging PFAS-containing products; they could implement or require the installation of treatment systems sufficient to remove PFAS from the Carpet Manufacturers’ wastewater; or they could even warn downstream users and provide funding for treatment systems capable of removing PFAS.”
The plaintiffs allege that the companies that manufacture and use the chemicals and the city knew or should have known that the wastewater sludge contained high concentrations of toxic PFAS chemicals that could leach into the ground and water.
Calhoun is a city of 19,000 about 70 miles northwest of downtown Atlanta. The northwest Georgia area, famed for its carpet manufacturing, has been roiled by a string of PFAS-related litigation.
Nationally, PFAS has also become a pressing issue. A slew of lawsuits in recent years have unearthed internal documents showing the first companies that made PFAS have been studying their toxicity since at least the 1950s, with mounting evidence of harm.
By the 1990s, multiple studies found elevated rates of cancer in people who worked at PFAS manufacturing facilities, and some company scientists were expressing concern over the long-term health ramifications. In 2005, the EPA issued what was then the largest fine in its history — $10.25 million — to DuPont for failing to report the chemicals’ “substantial risk” to regulators.
In the meantime, Calhoun’s treated drinking water continues to show high levels of PFAS contamination despite new filtration equipment. The city agreed to overhaul its water treatment to settle a separate PFAS case.
The chemical and carpet manufacturers have filed a petition in the same court to review the decisions not to throw out the cases against them. No response had been filed as of early Tuesday afternoon.
Note of disclosure
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