The City of Portsmouth has filed a lawsuit against DuPont and multiple other chemical companies claiming they manufactured a chemical that poisoned the city’s drinking water.
The city isn’t contending the companies dumped the chemicals into the water. Instead, the lawsuit says the chemicals come from the residue of foam used to fight fires. The foam, called aqueous film-forming foam, is used to suppress the flames from large fires fueled by highly flammable liquids like gasoline. The foam has a chemical called perfluorooctanoic acid. Residue from these foams leeched into the ground and eventually into the water.
Perfluorooctanoic acid and similar chemicals are used in thousands of household products. Medical studies have linked these chemicals to cancer, pregnancy complications, high cholesterol, and other illnesses.
These chemicals do not break down in water unless they are removed. Portsmouth wants the companies to pay to test the water the chemicals, pick up the cost of removing the chemicals, pay to dispose of the waste, and pick up the cost of future monitoring.”
Chemical companies responded to the lawsuit by saying they had acted responsibly and the lawsuit was without merit.
Click Here to download and view the full 46-page document filed in Federal Court
