North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein filed two new lawsuits against manufacturers of Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF), a fire suppressant that contains PFAS including DuPont, Chemours, and 3M.
The first lawsuit relates to contamination at the Piedmont-Triad International Airport and the second lawsuit relates to contamination at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Station New River. PFA’s are sometimes known as “forever chemicals.”
DuPont responded with the following:
“In 2019, DuPont de Nemours was established as a new multi-industrial specialty products company. DuPont de Nemours has never manufactured PFOA, PFOS or firefighting foam. While we don’t comment on pending litigation, we believe these complaints are without merit, and the latest example of DuPont de Nemours being improperly named in litigation. We look forward to vigorously defending our record of safety, health and environmental stewardship.”
DuPont had a similar response to a PFA lawsuit filed in Florida.
Chemours, said it had no comment regarding the lawsuit.
Chemours was spun off from DuPont as a publicly traded company in 2015. DuPont Co. underwent a merger with Dow and was spun off from that merger.
“In our filing with the court, we allege that these companies that made firefighting foam knew well how dangerous it was to our first responders and our natural resources,” said Stein. “But they continued to sell this product to line their pockets at the expense of our health and our drinking water. It’s wrong and unlawful, so I’m taking them to court and will fight to make sure they clean up the mess they made,” Stein stated.
The AG earlier filed four lawsuits against 14 companies over toxic firefighting foam. PFOA and PFOS are two types of PFAS chemicals widely used in firefighting foam and associated with suppressing immune systems, increased risk of childhood infections, high cholesterol, thyroid disease, cancer, and other illnesses.
AFFF is designed to be mixed with water and sprayed but can seep into the soil and groundwater without effective precautionary measures.
Stein’s broader investigation into PFAs is ongoing and may result in additional lawsuits, a release stated.
