Source: http://www.montgomerynews.com, August 26, 2016
By: Dan Sokil
A Warrington family has filed suit against the U.S. Navy, seeking health assessments and coverage of medical costs related to the ongoing water contamination from two local military bases.
“We had sent a notice of intent to the Navy that we were going to sue them, to force them to do blood testing and health monitoring and a health effect study on the community, because of the contamination of the water supply the Navy caused,” said attorney Mark Cuker.
“What we asked for was the same thing the governor asked for, the three local congressmen asked for, several state legislators, and the Navy never responded to us, so we are suing,” he said.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday by Philadelphia-based environmental law firm Williams, Cuker, Berezofsky on behalf of the Giovanni family of Poplar Road in Warrington, who allege the Navy was responsible for “improper disposal of contaminants and hazardous substances” at the Willow Grove and Warminster bases.
Water testing near both sites has revealed high levels of toxic PFCs — perfluoroochemical compounds — such as PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) and PFOS (perfluorooctanesulfonic acid), both linked to firefighting compounds used at both bases.
The complaint alleges that the half-life of PFOA in the body is two to nine years and that studies have shown a higher risk of bladder, kidney and other types of cancers after long-term exposure to PFOA. Cuker said Thursday the family who filed the suit has not yet seen any of those symptoms, but other local families with those diseases and conditions have also contacted the law firm.
Starting in 2003, that particular family has lived “virtually across the street” from the Willow Grove base, according to the complaint, with water supplied by a private well there. In December 2014, the family learned that PFOA and PFOS levels in their well were far higher than the health advisory level set by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, with a combined level more than 40 times the EPA limit.
Beginning in late 2014, the family was provided with bottled water from the Navy, which they used for roughly six months for cooking, drinking and brushing teeth, according to the complaint. After the family was connected to the Warrington Township Water & Sewer Department’s public water supply, they learned that three of that department’s wells were taken offline in late 2014 for exceeding EPA levels of PFOS, and two more were taken offline in May 2016 after the EPA lowered the health level.
“Plaintiffs’ consumption and use of water from private and public sources has resulted in significant exposure to one or more PFCs, relative to the general population,” reads the complaint.
“Plaintiffs’ exposure was the result of improper disposal of contaminants and hazardous substances from the facilities,” it says, before asking for medical assessments on behalf of the family and their children as per terms of the state Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act, and blood testing for “all individuals exposed to the contaminants and hazardous substances released from Willow Grove and Warminster.”
“It’s unfortunate that citizens have to ask their own government to step up and take responsibility for what it did, but that’s what we have to do,” Cuker said.
Now that the lawsuit has been filed, the Navy has 30 days to enter an appearance and file with the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas that they will be represented in the case. After that deadline, “in terms of how the case will move through the courts, no one can predict that,” Cuker said.
When asked for comment, a Navy spokesman for the Willow Grove base referred to the U.S. Department of Justice, which said Thursday they do not comment on pending litigation.