Source: http://www.advisen.com, June 25, 2016
Posted on: http://www.advisen.com
Accused polluters are facing another federal lawsuit for their alleged contamination of the Tennessee River, which plaintiffs say has threatened the health of those living around it.
The suit, filed by environmental nonprofit Tennessee Riverkeeper points to, a Decatur chemical plant as being the waste’s main generator.
BFI Waste Systems, the City of Decatur and the Municipal Utilities Board of Decatur are also listed as defendants in the suit.
Though the latter parties aren’t accused of creating the waste, they’re still responsible for allowing it to happen, said Mark Martin, the Riverkeeper’s chief prosecuting attorney who also represents the nonprofit.
“Their (all parties other than 3M) guilt is a sin of omission for not doing anything about the problem,” Martin said.
3M has produced perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) since the 1960’s and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) since 1999 as byproducts of the non-stick goods it manufactured. The company has stated that it voluntarily decided to stop using PFOA and PFOS in 2001.
“On-site disposal practices have resulted in groundwater contamination and the contamination of the Wheeler Reservoir of the Tennessee River,” stated a release from the Riverkeeper.
And by contaminating the Wheeler Reservoir and the Tennessee River, 3M and others have tainted locals’ drinking water, Riverkeeper authorities say.
“At least 4 other public water supplies using water from the Tennessee River downstream from Defendant 3M’s Decatur facility have detected PFOA contamination in finished water samples, including the Muscle Shoals Water Treatment Plant (WTP), the Florence Municipal Water Supply, and the Sheffield WTP, all of which are approximately 45 miles downstream of 3M’s Decatur facility,” the complaint states.
3M has stated that the claim lacks merit, and fails to appreciate that the company has “always operated in legal and regulatory compliance.”
Officials on behalf of the City of Decatur and the Municipal Utilities Board of Decatur said they had not yet received information regarding the suit. BFI could not be reached for a comment.
PFOS and PFOA warnings
In May, the EPA issued an advisory that water systems should not contain more that 70 parts per trillion (ppt) of PFOS and PFOA. The Alabama Department of Public Health subsequently released an advisory announcing that eight of Alabama’s water systems did not meet the EPA’s new regulation.
A December 2015 test showed these chemicals registering at 100 ppt in West Morgan-East Lawrence water system, which is supplied by the Tennessee River.
Following the EPA’s advisory, WMEL general manager Don Sims warned people not to drink or cook with the water until those chemical levels could be reduced.
Morgan County Emergency Management began supplying the community with bottled water while WMEL attempted to dilute the chemical levels by mixing in water from Decatur Utilities.
Those levels have since been reduced to meet the EPA’s advised standards.
Martin noted that while the water has been diluted, people are still exposed to the chemical.
“(PFOS and PFOA) accumulates in sediment and fish, and people are exposed to it by using the river when they swim, fish or ski,” Martin said. “There are a lot of people who eat the fish even though (ADPH) advised not to eat more than one fish a month (from the Wheeler Reservoir).
“There are subsistence fishermen who catch the fish and eat them because they aren’t aware of the advisory, or don’t take it into account.”
Potential Health Risks
The Riverkeeper’s complaint states that there is not a known environmental breakdown mechanism for these chemicals.
“The human diseases caused by exposure to PFOA, PFOS and related chemicals include cancer, immunotoxicity, thyroid disease, ulcerative colitis and high cholesterol,” it reads.
A separate suit filed against 3M by WMEL cited a 2010 study conducted by the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry which analyzed blood samples from 121 people who drank WMEL’s water.
The study found an elevated level of PFOA and PFOS in their blood. While WMEL’s suit is seeking monetary damages from 3M and others, the Riverkeeper’s suit demands the company remediate the environmental damage it caused.
“Our sole purpose is to force the people who are responsible to clean up (the waste,)” said David Whiteside, the Riverkeeper’s founder and director.