NEW YORK – The law firm of Weitz and Luxenberg, which is investigating the use of PFOS and PFOA, the carcinogenic chemicals used in firefighting foam on military bases, has filed a class action lawsuit against six producers of the foam.
The chemicals have been found in Washington Lake, the City of Newburgh’s drinking water supply. When that was discovered months ago, City Manager Michael Ciaravino shut off the spigot. The city is now getting its water from the New York City Catskill Aqueduct with the state DEC picking up the tab.
The federal lawsuit stems from contaminated water supplies in Pennsylvania’s Bucks and Montgomery counties.
Companies named in the suit are 3M, Angus Fire, The Ansul Company, Buckeye Fire Protection Company, Chemguard, and National Foam. The complaint alleges the residents in communities surrounding the bases were exposed to high levels of the chemicals for decades without their knowledge.
The lawsuit states that, as the manufacturers of firefighting foam, the defendants knew or should have known that the inclusion of PFOS and other similar chemicals in firefighting foam would present a major risk to human health and the environment, yet the companies failed to warn against this potential for harm.
As a result, the suit maintains the firefighting foam resulted in groundwater contamination for over 40 years at the two bases in Pennsylvania.
