Maryland AG Sues 3M, DuPont, Other Manufacturers Over ‘Forever Chemicals’

Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown has filed two lawsuits seeking to hold multiple chemical manufacturers accountable for contamination of the state’s natural resources and harm to public health from their so-called “forever chemicals” that have been used in many consumer and industrial products including firefighting foam for decades.

The lawsuits allege that through their manufacture and sale of toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), or “forever chemicals,” these corporations, including 3M, DuPont, and others, caused PFAS contamination of the state’s environment including drinking water supplies through multiple pathways and put Maryland residents’ health at risk.

Both lawsuits allege that defendants knew the dangers associated with their PFAS products many decades ago. Yet despite that knowledge, they failed to alert the state or the public. Rather, they continued to pursue profits through the manufacturing, marketing, and sales of their PFAS products in Maryland, according to the complaints.

The complaints allege that the “manufacturers knew specifically that their PFAS were reaching drinking water supplies and accumulating in people’s bodies as they were exposed to the chemicals over time.”

According to the suits, because of the manufacturers’ “profit-driven effort to conceal these risks from federal and state regulators and the public more broadly,” the public health and environmental consequences have only recently come to light. The companies were eventually “compelled to disclose what they have long known” about the dangers of their PFAS products through lawsuits like the ones Maryland has now filed, the complaint continues.

The lawsuits, filed in Circuit Court for Baltimore City, allege a number of claims, including defective design, failure to warn, public nuisance, trespass, and negligence.

The two complaints seek to recover damages and costs related to the investigation, cleanup, restoration, and treatment of its natural resources from PFAS contamination.

The Maryland action follows the filing of similar lawsuits last week by Rhode Island’s attorney general.

Maryland’s first lawsuit addresses contamination caused by PFAS present in aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF), more commonly referred to as “firefighting foam,” which has been used for decades by the U.S. military, airports, industrial facilities, and local fire departments.

The second lawsuit addresses contamination caused by PFAS from non-AFFF sources, including but not limited to consumer products, and which were introduced into Maryland’s environment through industrial facilities, the use and disposal of these products, landfills receiving PFAS-containing waste, and wastewater treatment facilities containing PFAS-contaminated waste streams.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified more than 12,000 PFAS compounds and has concluded that exposure to PFAS may lead to significant negative health effects.

PFAS compounds have been used since the 1940s in industrial settings and in the production of household and commercial products that are heat resistant, stain resistant, and water and oil repellent. PFAS are commonly referred to as “forever chemicals” because they do not readily biodegrade or chemically degrade and remain in the environment for hundreds or even thousands of years.

Source: Maryland Attorney General

Topics Lawsuits Maryland Manufacturing Chemicals