Town Of Camden, Maine And Mid-Coast Solid Waste File A Lawsuit Against 3M, DuPont And Others Over PFAS Contamination In Wastewater

Committed to holding polluters accountable for contaminated water cleanup costs, SL Environmental Law Group has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Town of Camden, Maine and Mid-Coast Solid Waste Corporation against 3M Company, E.I. DuPont de Nemours, Inc., and other manufacturers of aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) for their involvement in the manufacture and sale of per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”). The City operates a wastewater treatment plant, where state-mandated sampling has indicated detections for PFAS.

“In Camden, we believe all water should be free of harmful forever chemicals,” said David St. Laurent, Camden Public Works Director. “Before making its way to our community, that water passes through our local wastewater treatment facilities, which are responsible for ensuring it is safe before releasing it back into the environment. We are proud to join the fight to hold the PFAS manufactures accountable for the pollution they caused and we are grateful for the experience offered by the team at SL Environmental Law Group. They have been a key figure in helping secure the historic drinking water settlements. We feel confident they are the best partner for continuing to prioritize our community’s health and financial wellbeing.”

PFAS are persistent toxic chemicals that bioaccumulate when released into the environment. Due to the widespread use of these compounds in commercial and consumer products, PFAS tend to concentrate in wastewater streams, making wastewater treatment plants potential avenues of PFAS contamination. Though not currently regulated at the federal level, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has strongly encouraged wastewater treatment plants to test for suspected upstream PFAS sources using the latest sampling methods and effluent guidelines. A risk assessment for PFOA and PFOS in biosolids is also expected to be released in 2024.

In the absence of federal guidelines, some states have begun enacting wastewater regulations for PFAS. In Maine specifically, the Department of Environmental Protection has the authority to order the cleanup of PFAS contaminated sites or seek compensation from responsible parties to pay for that clean up, and a recently enacted law prohibits the spreading of PFAS-laden sludge and sludge-derived compost as fertilizer.

PFAS has impacted surface water and groundwater throughout the country resulting in hundreds of similar suits brought forward by water providers, and mostly against the same defendants, in an ongoing multi-district litigation supervised by a federal judge in South Carolina.

SL Environmental Law Group has decades of experience representing municipalities and water providers across the nation in efforts to recover the costs of treating drinking water contamination from the corporations whose products caused the pollution.In collaboration with a team of law firms, SL Environmental Law Group is handling the Town of Camden and Mid-Coast Solid Waste Corporation’s cases along with several other systems in Maine and over 300 agencies across the country affected by PFAS.

About SL Environmental Law Group
SL Environmental Law Group, P.C. helps public and private agencies shift contamination costs from ratepayers to the responsible polluters through legal action. Founded in 2003, to date SL Environmental has helped more than 400 clients, resulting in over $2B recovered in settlements and trials which would have otherwise been shouldered by agencies and their taxpayers. For more information visit www.slenvironment.com.