The biggest water district in Maine is suing manufacturers of so-called forever chemicals in the hopes of recouping costs of monitoring and treating polluted wastewater.
The Portland Water District lawsuit comes as the cost of the disposal of sewage sludge contaminated per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS, has doubled from $1.6 million to $3.2 million over the last three years, and Portland has agreed to develop a regional biosolids treatment facility proposal with cost estimates ranging from $150 million to $250 million.
The lawsuit, filed last month in U.S. District Court in South Carolina, targets 18 companies including DuPont, 3M and others that designed, manufactured, marketed, distributed and sold six toxic forever chemicals.
“Defendants knew or reasonably should have known that their PFAS compounds would pollute wastewater treatment systems and threaten public health and welfare,” the lawsuit said.
In a statement, 3M said it will address PFAS litigation by defending itself in court or through negotiated resolutions. “As the science and technology of PFAS, societal and regulatory expectations, and our expectations of ourselves, have evolved,” the company said Wednesday.
