Consumer advocate Erin Brockovich, who is on Murray County’s legal team, speaks at a town hall meeting in Calhoun, Georgia on Sept. 21, 2024. PFAS Georgia / Facebook
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In a recent lawsuit, Murray County, Georgia, alleged that corporations 3M, Daikin and DuPont have used toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) “forever chemicals” to produce products in Northwest Georgia while hiding associated dangers since the 1960s, causing a public health crisis.
The county is also suing carpet manufacturers, including Shaw and Mohawk Industries, reported The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The lawsuit claims the companies have been aware for decades that the PFAS they produce and use are toxic, but have been concealing that knowledge and dumping contaminated waste in the county’s landfill.
“Thanks to these and other failures by the chemical makers and users, all or substantially all the residents of Northwest Georgia effectively have Scotchgard, Stainmaster, and Teflon coursing through their veins, suppressing their immune systems and triggering debilitating and fatal illnesses,” the county said in its lawsuit.
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In its complaint, the Georgia county said defendants made billions from products contaminated with PFAS and should pay for necessary cleanup.
The complaint by Murray County follows another lawsuit filed by Mohawk Industries in Whitfield County against 3M, DuPont, Chemours and Daikin, alleging the chemical companies hid PFAS dangers from users.
One of the biggest carpet manufacturers in the world, Mohawk claims it was duped into using the chemicals without being aware that they could cause harm to humans and the environment, Atlanta News First reported.
Mohawk’s lawsuit claims the corporations “concealed and misrepresented material information regarding the environmental and health risks of PFAS chemicals” when it sold carpet “treatment products” to Mohawk over the course of decades.
The City of Dalton — known as “the carpet and flooring capital of the world” — has filed another lawsuit against Shaw Industries, 3M, Daikin, Chemours and others, alleging that the city’s sewage system was contaminated with PFAS by one of its largest employers. That complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court Northern District of Georgia, located in Rome.
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PFAS are a group of thousands of chemicals used to make products like carpet stain- and water-resistant.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency has said PFAS have been linked to a heightened risk of decreased fertility, low birth weight and multiple forms of cancer.
Mohawk admitted that its industrial wastewater, which was contaminated with PFAS, made its way into rivers that provide local residents with drinking water.
“Mohawk has already paid over $100 million to settle certain water lawsuits in order to fund the construction of water treatment facilities to remove Defendants’ PFAS from the drinking water of the affected communities,” the lawsuit said, as reported by Atlanta News First.
The case brought by Murray County, which includes claims against Chemours, is the most recent in an increasing legal fight stemming from PFAS use in the state’s carpet manufacturing industry, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
PFAS are referred to as “forever chemicals” because they do not break down easily in the natural environment.
Murray County’s legal team is made up of attorneys, water experts and consumer advocates that include Erin Brockovich — famous for the fight against Pacific Gas & Electric that inspired an Oscar-winning film bearing the environmental advocate’s name.
3M has said it will stop making PFAS by year’s end, and has agreed to pay as much as $12.5 billion to public water providers.
“The PFAS in and around the county’s landfill, which are migrating into the waters of the state of Georgia, must be contained, captured and destroyed,” the county stated in its lawsuit.
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