Dive Brief:
- New York Attorney General Letitia James has sued four chemical manufacturing companies for allegedly polluting the state’s natural resources with PFAS-laced consumer products.
- According to the July 9 court filing, 3M, DuPont, Chemours, Corteva and Corteva subsidiary EIDP, allegedly knew for decades that their consumer products contained per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and continued to manufacture, market and sell the toxic items, violating state consumer protection laws and harming the environment. Chemours declined to comment on the lawsuit. Other companies did not immediately respond.
- The state is seeking an undisclosed amount of money for remediation efforts of contaminated sites, as well as for damages, restitution and other penalties, including $5,000 for each situation situation in which the defendants allegedly conducted false advertisement or deceptive business practices. New York also wants the companies to surrender “all illegally earned profits,” according to the press release.
Dive Insight:
The lawsuit, which was filed through the New York Supreme Court, aims to prevent entities from selling products containing PFAS without adequate warnings and cease misleading advertisements.
New York’s natural resources include surface waters covering over 70,000 miles of rivers and streams, including about 7,600 lakes and ponds and several reservoirs, according to court documents. The surface waters also serve as a primary drinking water source as well as a commercial and recreational fishing, boating and tourist post.
Likewise, New York’s ground water provides a drinking water source for approximately a third of its residents.
In March, the state launched a pilot program in six counties that allows residents who get their drinking water from private wells to apply for free PFAS testing. If testing results indicate that the wells contain perfluorooctanoic acid or perfluorooctane sulfonate levels at or above the current New York State public drinking water standards, then residents will be eligible for a rebate of up to $5,000 to install a PFAS water treatment system, or up to $10,000 to connect to a public water supply.
New York also enacted other regulations to address contamination. In 2017, the state carried out the Clean Water Infrastructure Act to heighten its focus on various clean water threats, including PFAS. Since its authorization, New York has allocated $5.5 billion to the CWIA, according to court documents.
The funding includes $130 million allocated under the CWIA to address public drinking water affected by contaminated landfills and similar sites.
Additionally, the state could spend between $2.7 billion and $4.4 billion in additional healthcare costs due to PFAS exposure, per the court filing. Forever chemicals are linked to causing various cancers, immune system disorders and developmental issues, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
“It’s time for them to pay for the damage they caused,” James said in a statement. “For far too long, our communities have unfairly shouldered the costs of protecting people from these toxic forever chemicals and cleaning up their contamination.”
