Woodbridge, Nearby Towns Threaten Lawsuit Over PFOA Water Issue

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — Six Middlesex County towns are now threatening legal action against Middlesex Water Company because Central Jersey's drinking water is testing too high for PFOAs, now that the state of New Jersey significantly lowered the allowable levels in February of this year.

The towns are Woodbridge, Carteret, Metuchen, South Plainfield, Edison and Clark.

No lawsuits have been filed yet, but the towns appear to be gunning up for a class-action legal battle. The towns are even threatening to sue 3M, the chemical company that makes PFOA.

There is no fee to keep the two law firms on retainer, said a spokesman for Woodbridge Township, so no taxpayer dollars have been spent yet. If any lawsuits are filed, these would be class-action lawsuits, which are paid on a contingency basis.

On Oct. 22 of this year Middlesex Water Company was notified by the state of New Jersey that their water is testing above the state's new standards for Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA). PFOA is the so-called "forever chemicals" that come from non-stick cookware, water-resistant outdoor clothing and grease-proof food packaging, among other sources.

In February of this year, the NJ Department of Environmental Protection made a drastic reduction in how much PFOA could be in drinking water, lowering the thresholds by 65 percent. The state did this following new guidance from the federal Environmental Protection Agency, which similarly called for lower PFOA levels in drinking water. The change at the federal level was made when the Biden administration took office.

Before that change, the levels of PFOA allowed in New Jersey drinking water had been 40 parts per trillion and they had been that way for decades. It has now been lowered to 14 parts per trillion. New Jersey has some of the strictest PFOA levels in America.

And Middlesex County's water now exceeds the brand-new limits. Subscribe to get Woodbridge, NJ news: https://patch.com/subscribe

"This is a highly complex issue in which essentially a new regulation was established by the NJ DEP, where only a guidance level existed before (which we complied with)," said Bernadette Sohler, a spokeswoman for Middlesex Water Company, a private company. "And we are building a plant to comply with the new regulation."

However, that new plant is not expected to be completed until 2023. She said her company is working to come up with more immediate solutions.

Middlesex Water Company has also repeatedly said that the higher levels of PFOA are not a public health risk.

“If this were truly a health emergency, an acute threat that posed an immediate health risk, we would pay for filters, we would pay for bottled water, we would do what it takes to keep our customers safe,” Middlesex Water Company president Dennis Doll said at a public meeting Oct. 27, according to NJ Spotlight. “But at the levels we’re talking about, we do not believe this is an immediate health risk.”

He also called the new levels from the NJ DEP “extraordinarily stringent.”

Middlesex Water Company's plant is located in South Plainfield. About 57,000 customers in Central Jersey get their water from that plant.

"Essentially, if you pay your water bill to Middlesex Water, you are affected," Edison Township told residents last week.

The coalition of six towns hired T&M Associates environmental consulting "to advise and educate us as we work through this process," Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac said last week.

"Water that was only recently deemed compliant now is over the new threshold," McCormac also said, striking a soft tone on the issue.

But now it seems the towns have taken a more aggressive stance, as they announced Monday they have collectively retained Iselin-based law firm Vlasac & Shmaruk and Berger Montague PC of Philadelphia to "investigate the actions being implemented by 3M and Middlesex Water Company to comply with federal and state safe drinking water standards."

Carteret Mayor Dan Reiman even wants the water company to pay for bottled water for all 57,000 affected residents, and to install water filters in private homes and businesses.

"We demand immediate action, first to correct the exceedance of PFOA in drinking water, second to compensate our residents and businesses for the added costs of buying bottled water and the installation of water filters,” said Mayor Reiman.

Prior: High PFOA Levels In Middlesex Co. Water? Get The Full Story

Contact this Patch reporter: Carly.baldwin@patch.com