Petersburgh files lawsuit against companies for polluting water with PFOA

The PFOA issue in Petersburgh is in the spotlight again.

The town has filed a lawsuit against companies manufacturing the toxic chemical that polluted their water.

This is a new lawsuit against, 3M Company, AGC Chemicals Americas Inc., Daikin America, Inc., E.I. Dupont De Nemours and Company, Solvay Solexis, Inc., and Shamrock Technologies, Inc. These companies, according to the court documents knowingly produced products that contained the deadly chemical PFOA.

PFOA has been linked to several deadly diseases involving the kidneys, thyroid, and other forms of cancer. By distributing these products that contained PFOA, the town says their water was contaminated. In 2016, after the water was tested, the levels of the toxic chemical was so high, state officials recommended residents to stop drinking tap water. The town of Petersburgh argues that the companies knew or should have known that PFOA is toxic to human health and the environment. This lawsuit is separate from the one the town won months ago in a settlement against the company Taconic Plastics.

The town is seeking compensatory damages for the harm done to its property and the cost associated with investigating, remediating, and monitoring it’s drinking water supplies.