CONNECTICUT, USA — Attorney General William Tong filed two lawsuits against 28 chemical manufacturers Thursday, claiming the companies are responsible for knowingly contaminating Connecticut waters and natural resources with PFAS, otherwise known as "forever chemicals."
The two complaints filed by Tong look to hold the companies responsible for the contamination from two sources: Aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) used in firefighting and PFAS used in manufacturing and added to consumer products like food package, cookware, carpeting, upholstery, clothing, and cosmetics to make products "resistant to stains, water, and heat."
Tong said PFAS chemicals are a "toxic menace" to human health and the environment.
"These companies knew the truth decades ago, and they buried the evidence and lied to all of us," Tong said. "Because of that, we are dealing with widespread contamination of drinking water and natural resources across Connecticut. We are seeking to hold some of the world’s largest chemical manufacturers accountable for this massive public health and environmental catastrophe."
Nearly all humans today have PFAS in their bloodstream. They are chemicals that can persist in the environment indefinitely and can travel into drinking water sources. Even "modest" releases of PFAS can cause widespread pollution and damage, Tong said.
PFAS has been known to cause severe health problems, including an increased risk of kidney, breast, pancreas, prostate, and testicular cancers. It can also cause liver damage, decreased birth weight, and birth defects, along with decreased vaccine response, high cholesterol, infertility, and diabetes.
The complaints filed by Tong look for injunctive and monetary relief. It will compel the companies to dispose of their toxic chemical stocks, abate all pollution in Connecticut, disclose all research, and compensate the state for past and future remediation and testing expenses.
The complaints also seek tens of thousands of dollars per day in penalties for widespread violations of numerous state laws dating back decades. The complaints charge that the companies knew as early as the 1950s that PFAS chemicals were toxic, highly persistent, and likely to spread to groundwater and contaminate the environment. Instead of protecting the public, the companies buried the evidence, lied to the public, and continued to manufacture products they knew were killing people and causing permanent environmental harm.
Those who are often wildly affected by the use of PFAS are firefighters, said Peter Brown, president of the Uniformed Professional Fire Fighters Association.
“Occupational cancer is the number one killer of firefighters and is responsible for nearly 75% of annual Line-of-Duty deaths. Exposure to PFAS chemicals is a leading factor in our increased risk. We need to hold these manufacturers accountable and remove these deadly carcinogens from our equipment, station wear, and turnout gear so that the next generation of firefighters can remain cancer-free,” said Brown.
In 2021, Gov. Ned Lamont signed Public Act 21-191, which enacted a law prohibiting PFAS from being used in firefighting foam and food packaging.
“There are safer alternatives that companies can use, and those that continue to manufacture products containing PFAS are potentially causing harm to the people who live and visit our state," said Lamont.
“Identifying and minimizing the risk posed to Connecticut residents by these ‘forever chemicals’ has been a priority of the Lamont Administration since the creation of the Connecticut Interagency PFAS Task Force in 2019," Katie Dykes, Commissioner of DEEP. "Since that time, DEEP has been hard at work, along with its sister agencies on the Task Force, conducting sampling to identify the presence of PFAS in our state, and implementing measures to remove PFAS from our environment and minimize future releases, including a successful AFFF takeback program, and banning most AFFF uses and intentionally-added PFAS in food packaging.”
Tong went on to further outline how PFAS has infiltrated and contaminated many water systems in places like Manchester and Norwalk. PFAS have been detected in the Connecticut River in Hartford, in Farmington and Windsor on the Farmington River, in Vernon on the Hockanum River, in Beacon Falls on the Naugatuck River, in Bristol on the Pequabuck River, in Wallingford on the Quinnipiac River, and in Somers on the Scantic River.
The Connecticut Department of Health has issued PFAS-related consumption advisories for fish caught throughout or in portions of the Connecticut, Farmington, Hockanum, Housatonic, Natchaug, Naugatuck, Pequabuck, Quinnipiac, Scantic, Shetucket, Still, Tankerhoosen, and Willimantic rivers. State agencies are currently investigating PFAS contamination of shellfish beds in the Long Island Sound.
Contamination specific to AFFF firefighting foam is also documented. PFAS have been detected in private wells and the town’s water supply in Killingworth, attributable to the discharge of AFFF foam at the Fire Training Area and Fire Department in Killingworth. Numerous additional locations are known to be contaminated by AFFF products, including Cherry Brook Primary School in Canton, the Farmington River due to discharges at Bradley International Airport, communities in New London and Groton near the Naval Submarine Base, Windham near the Eastern Connecticut Fire School, and more. PFAS contamination attributable to AFFF has been detected in drinking water in East Hampton and at the Mystic Oral School for the Deaf in Groton.
Since 2001, the state has been aware of at least 200 reported emergency incidents where AFFF was likely deployed.
In 2021, the state banned use of AFFF in most circumstances and required DEEP to implement an AFFF take-back program. Since then, over 35,000 gallons of AFFF concentrate have been recovered from 250 municipal fire departments. The take-back program still needs to replace and dispose of AFFF contained in approximately 342 municipal fire trucks, and additional fire boats, fire extinguishers and other containers of AFFF concentrate.
The AFFF complaint lists 20 counts against 28 defendants, including public nuisance, trespass, negligence, fraud and negligent misrepresentation, civil conspiracy, violations of the Connecticut Environmental Protection Act, violations of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act, and violations of the Connecticut Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act.
The non-AFFF complaint lists 16 counts against six defendants, including public nuisance, trespass, negligence, violations of the Connecticut Environmental Protection Act, violations of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act, and violations of the Connecticut Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act.
Assistant Attorneys General Christopher Kelly, Michael Lynch and Julia Suesser and Deputy Associate Attorney General Matthew Levine, Chief of the Environment Section assisted the Attorney General in this matter.
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Jennifer Glatz is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jglatz@fox61.com.
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