3M Company Accused of Contaminating Drinking Water in Another Lawsuit

Accused polluters are facing another federal lawsuit for their alleged contamination of the Tennessee River, which plaintiffs say has threatened the health of those living around it.

The suit, filed by environmental nonprofit Tennessee Riverkeeper points to, a Decatur chemical plant as being the waste’s main generator.

BFI Waste Systems, the City of Decatur and the Municipal Utilities Board of Decatur are also listed as defendants in the suit.

Though the latter parties aren’t accused of creating the waste, they’re still responsible for allowing it to happen, said Mark Martin, the Riverkeeper’s chief prosecuting attorney who also represents the nonprofit.

“Their (all parties other than 3M) guilt is a sin of omission for not doing anything about the problem,” Martin said.

3M has produced perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) since the 1960's and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) since 1999 as byproducts of the non-stick goods it manufactured. The company has stated that it voluntarily decided to stop using PFOA and PFOS in 2001.

“On-site disposal practices have resulted in groundwater contamination and the contamination of the Wheeler Reservoir of the Tennessee River,” stated a release from the Riverkeeper.

Morgan County Emergency Management began supplying the community with bottled water while WMEL attempted to dilute the chemical levels by mixing in water from Decatur Utilities.

Those levels have since been reduced to meet the EPA’s advised standards.

Martin noted that while the water has been diluted, people are still exposed to the chemical.

“(PFOS and PFOA) accumulates in sediment and fish, and people are exposed to it by using the river when they swim, fish or ski,” Martin said. “There are a lot of people who eat the fish even though (ADPH) advised not to eat more than one fish a month (from the Wheeler Reservoir).

“There are subsistence fishermen who catch the fish and eat them because they aren’t aware of the advisory, or don’t take it into account.”

Potential Health Risks

The Riverkeeper’s complaint states that there is not a known environmental breakdown mechanism for these chemicals.

“The human diseases caused by exposure to PFOA, PFOS and related chemicals include cancer, immunotoxicity, thyroid disease, ulcerative colitis and high cholesterol,” it reads.

A separate suit filed against 3M by WMEL cited a 2010 study conducted by the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry which analyzed blood samples from 121 people who drank WMEL’s water.

The study found an elevated level of PFOA and PFOS in their blood. While WMEL’s suit is seeking monetary damages from 3M and others, the Riverkeeper’s suit demands the company remediate the environmental damage it caused.

“Our sole purpose is to force the people who are responsible to clean up (the waste,)” said David Whiteside, the Riverkeeper’s founder and director.

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