“KENT COUNTY, MI — A new class action lawsuit filed against Wolverine World Wide includes residents of Russell Ridge, a neighborhood near Cedar Springs.
The plaintiffs are represented by the same group of law firms that filed suit last month on behalf of six families in the Wellington Ridge subdivision. Those Algoma Township residents have some of the highest levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, called PFAS or PFCs, found in north Kent county.
But that isn’t the case with the Russell Ridge neighborhood, where the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has not been able to link what it describes as ‘low levels’ of PFAS to water contamination tied to Wolverine’s dumping of tannery waste decades ago.
Nonetheless, ‘our clients have lost the ability to enjoy their homes and live with daily reminders that they and their families have been consuming water laced with toxic chemicals,’ said Esther Berezofsky of the Berezofsky Law Group in a statement.
Her firm also represents Flint residents harmed by lead-contaminated drinking water and residents of Hoosick Falls and Petersburgh in New York, which are also experiencing PFAS drinking water problems.
The New Jersey-based Berezofsky Law is partnering on the case with Detroit area firm Sommers Schwartz and the South Carolina firm Motley Rice…
The suit filed March 6 in Kent County Circuit Court is seeking damages for economic loss and future health conditions. Exposure to PFOS and PFOA has been linked to various forms of cancer, thyroid problems and other diseases.
Four of the plaintiffs live in Belmont, which sits squarely in the testing zones that encompass about 20 contiguous square miles of northern Kent County.
Two plaintiffs own homes in the Russell Ridge neighborhood. The Algoma Township development is located in Cedar Rock — the nickname for an area between Cedar Springs and Rockford.”
Read the full article by Shandra Martinez