Tuesday, May 3, 2022 - Another in a long string of lawsuits has been filed alleging that a municipality's drinking water has been contaminated with PFAS forever chemicals. The city of Portsmouth has joined Colorado and North Carolina in suing several manufacturers of the toxic chemical. Cited in the lawsuits as defendants are 3M, DuPont and others. The lawsuit alleges that the companies manufactured aqueous film-forming foam, better known as firefighting foam, which contains the toxin perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). The chemical is widely used in manufacturing waterproof clothing, fast-food packaging, stain-resistant furniture, carpeting, and drapery. Well-known PFAS chemical consumer brands include Teflon, Gortex, and Scotchgard.
In addition to specific lawsuits, other lawsuits allege that large-scale industrial manufacturing plants have also created PFAS drinking water by dumping forever chemicals and God knows what else directly into the community's river. Forever chemicals are just that ... forever. They do not break down into organic compounds for at least decades yet the toxins mix easily with water and soil. WOUB Public Media tells readers about the variety of diseases that are linked with PFAS chemicals. "Studies of laboratory animals and humans have linked PFOA to testicular and kidney cancer, thyroid disease, high cholesterol, ulcerative colitis, and pregnancy-induced hypertension. There is heightened concern for PFAS forever chemicals as scientists have discovered cancer and other diseases may occur when one ingests much lower quantities of PFAS than previously thought. Also, studies indicate that almost all Americans have been contaminated with deadly toxin. According to WOUB, "The U.S. Centers for Disease Control says people are most commonly exposed to PFOA through drinking contaminated water. A study by CDC scientists found PFOA in the blood of nearly all of those tested, suggesting that exposure to the chemical is widespread in the population."
Local residents with cancer allege drinking local municipal drinking water contaminated with PFAS forever chemicals has caused cancer and other terminal illnesses leading to PFAS cancer lawsuits. According to the lawsuit, The Portsmouth water supply system, the plaintiff, supplies drinking water to Portsmouth and the surrounding communities of Wheelersburg, Sciotoville, Rosemount, and West Portsmouth. This water comes from the surface of the Ohio River which the lawsuit contends the defendants polluted with PFAS forever chemicals. The City of Portsmouth contends that the municipal water supply system has been and continues to be polluted with manmade: "per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances ("PFAS"), including but not limited to perfluorooctanoic acid ("PFOA")." According to the lawsuit, "PFOA is toxic and persistent in the environment, does not biodegrade, moves readily through soil and water, and poses a significant risk to human health and safety and the environment." Interestingly, the lawsuit cites the use of firefighting foam as the source of the contamination and that 3M and other defendants had an obligation to know and to warn them of how to safely dispose of the firefighting foam residue. In most all cases firefighters simply sprayed water onto the foam that flowed down into the local sewer drain or leeched through the soil into the underlying water table. The lawsuit seeks funds to remediate the environment which could run into the billions of dollars.
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