NYS To Sue Firefighting Foam Manufacturers

NEWBURGH, NY — New York State is suing six companies that manufactured firefighting foam that has been found at locations across the state, including Stewart Air National Guard Base in New Windsor and Gabreski Air National Guard Base in Southampton. The lawsuit was announced Wednesday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state Attorney General Barbara Underwood.

The suit seeks to hold the companies accountable and recover state costs and natural resource damages associated with contamination at several sites and is the latest step in the state’s ongoing efforts to tackle emerging contaminants.

Defendants in the suit include 3M Company, Tyco Fire Products LP, Chemguard, Inc., Buckeye Fire Equipment Company, National Foam, Inc., and Kidde-Fenwal, Inc.

It is alleged they manufactured aqueous film-forming foam containing the chemicals perfluorooctane sulfonic acid/perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and/or perfluorooctanoic acid/perfluorooctanoate (PFOA).

“As state experts continue to investigate contamination caused by firefighting foams, New York is working to end the dangerous practices that threaten our natural resources,” Cuomo said. “By taking necessary legal action against these companies, we are sending a clear message that we will do everything in our power to protect New Yorkers.”

SEE ALSO: Stewart Air National Guard Base Declared Superfund Site

The state's suit claims that aqueous film-forming foam manufacturers knew, or should have known, that their products containing PFOA and/or PFOS, when used as intended, would likely injure and/or threaten public health and the environment. The suit claims that these products have caused a public nuisance by threatening public health, contaminating the environment, damaging natural resources and interfering with the public's use and enjoyment of these resources. The suit also claims that these products were not reasonably safe when used as intended, and that the manufacturers failed to provide warnings about the potential dangers of these products, and failed to provide instructions or other information that could have prevented or minimized these dangers. In addition, the suit claims that the manufacturers must be held responsible for the harms that have resulted and continue to result from the release of their products.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation and Department of Health have spent more than $38 million to date to investigate and clean up contamination resulting from the use of aqueous film-forming foam at several locations, and the state continues to expend significant resources in its ongoing efforts to address PFOA and PFOS contamination and provide communities with access to safe drinking water.

Although PFOA and PFOS were phased out of most new products beginning in the 2000s, releases of firefighting foams containing these chemicals are expected to represent a significant source of contamination statewide. Firefighting foams that do not contain these contaminants are widely in use today.

PFOA and PFOS are part of a class of chemicals known as PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances). PFAS are manufactured chemicals that have been used since the 1940s to make commercial and industrial products that resist heat, stains, grease and water, and since the 1960s to make firefighting foam. There are many types of PFAS, with the best-known examples being PFOA and PFOS.

Schumer Calls On USAF To Release Report

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, called on the Department of Defense and the U.S. Air Force Thursday to immediately release the long-overdue Site Investigation Report regarding the ongoing issue of perfluorinated compound contamination at Stewart Air National Guard Base in New Windsor.

The senate minority leader said repeated attempts by the DOD and the USAF to avoid responsibility, their habitually missed deadlines and opacity add up to a dereliction of duty.

In a letter to U.S. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, Schumer expressed significant frustration at the pace of clean up and lack of clear communication and coordination with impacted communities.

Schumer said the first deadline for the report for the third quarter of 2017 was missed. The most recent deadline of June 1 has also come and gone.

“This toxic threat to public health cannot be allowed to drag on any further, that is why I am again calling on the DOD and the Air Force to immediately release this long overdue Site Investigation Report, complete the remaining steps of the CERLCA process, drastically improve communication and transparency with impacted communities and to award a contract for full remediation of the toxic waste. Newburgh residents are tired of waiting. The Air Force and DOD must do more to address this toxic mess that the Air Force created and we must do it now,” Schumer said.

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