Bucks County Suing PFAS Manufacturers Over 'Hazardous' Chemicals, 'Egregious Conduct'

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — Bucks County filed a lawsuit against major manufacturers of PFAS Tuesday morning, the county commissioners and district attorney announced, saying that the companies endangered residents by failing to warn them about toxic chemicals in their products.

PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl substances, have been used in many products including aqueous film firefighting foam (AFFF) used at military bases, airports, petroleum refineries, and fire training centers — including those in Bucks County.

The substances are often called "forever chemicals" because they remain in the environment long after use and do not biodegrade.

"These defendants designed, manufactured, marketed, and sold these products including firefighting foam knowing that their use would cause toxic chemicals to be released into the environment, and they did nothing to notify the consumers," Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub said at the news conference.

Bucks County solicitor Joe Khan said the products were last used by local firefighters more than ten years ago. However, recent testing at the Public Safety Training Center in Doylestown — where the conference was held — confirmed the ongoing presence of PFAS in water and soil samples, according to the lawsuit.

"As a result, we have seen the effects were extremely dangerous for the health and welfare of people in Bucks County," Khan said.

The suit, filed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania by and through Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub and Bucks County, brings ten counts against these manufacturers.

According to the lawsuit, the chemicals are readily absorbed into human and animal tissues. (Last summer, the Commonwealth granted funding for a study on possible cancer links to PFAS found in Bucks and Montgomery county water). The lawsuit also said AFFF can be made without PFAS.

It further alleges that some manufacturers such as E.I. Dupont De Nemours and Company actively attempted to avoid their liabilities related to the use of PFAS.

The use of PFAS constitutes a public nuisance in the county, according to the suit, in part because of the "Do Not Eat" advisory for fish in the Neshaminy Creek watershed.

Because Weintraub, as DA, is joining the suit, he only needs to establish loss of funds as a result of the defendants' conduct in order to win, he said Tuesday. Any remedies he could receive are also in addition to those the county could receive, he explained.

Weintraub said he is seeking "prevention" of further harm, "information" on the impacts of the chemicals, "restoration" of Bucks County to its former self, "compensation" in the form of the defendants' profit, and "punishment" for the defendants' "egregious conduct."

Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie said he attended a conference in Washington, D.C. that showed him this problem has had nationwide impact.

"These are chemicals which, very much like tobacco, the manufacturers knew for a long time that what they were putting in this chemical [was] going to be hazardous and [was] going to be very very difficult to get rid of," Harvie said.

Litigation can be a lengthy process; the commissioners and district attorney said they do not yet know what the financial payout from a settlement could be.

"If we learn of other claimants that we can possibly protect in Bucks County, we will," Weintraub said.

The county is suing the following manufacturers:

• 3M Company
• E.I. Dupont De Nemours and Company
• The Chemours Company
• The Chemours Company, FC, LLC
• DuPont de Nemours, Inc.
• Corteva, Inc.
• Chemguard, Inc.
• Tyco Fire Products LP
• Kidde-Fenwal, Inc.
• Kidde PLC, Inc.
• Chubb Fire, Ltd.
• UTC Fire & Security Americas Corporation, Inc.
• Carrier Global Corporation
• Raytheon Technologies Corporation
• National Foam, Inc.
• Buckeye Fire Equipment Company
• Arkema, Inc.
• BASF Corporation
• ChemDesign Products, Inc.
• Clariant Corporation
• Chemicals Incorporated
• Nation Ford Chemical Company
• AGC, Inc.
• AGC Chemicals Americas, Inc.
• Deepwater Chemicals, Inc.
• Dynax Corporation
• Archroma Management, LLC

Some John Doe defendants believed to be designers, manufacturers, marketers, distributors, and/or sellers are also implicated in the lawsuit. Investigators expect to discover their names and add them to the complaint, the suit detailed.

Bucks County and the Bucks County District Attorney's Office are represented by the nationally recognized attorneys from Baron & Budd, P.C., Cossich Sumich Parsiola & Taylor, LLC, and Dillworth Paxson LLP.

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