New Mexico petitions U.S. Court of Appeals over PFAS water contamination by Department of Defense

Read the full article by New Mexico Environmental Department (KRWG Public Media)

“Today, the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) and the New Mexico Attorney General (NMAG) filed a writ of mandamus requesting that the Fourth Circuit Court vacate its decision to transfer New Mexico’s PFAS litigation into multi-district litigation in South Carolina and remand the matter back to the District of New Mexico. The State argues the action was an unconstitutional violation of New Mexico’s sovereignty and will result in extreme delays in the case’s movement, putting public health and the environment at further risk.

NMED and the NMAG assert that the PFAS contamination caused by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) at Cannon and Holloman Air Force Bases will continue to present an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health and the environment unless the DOD takes immediate action. The multi-district litigation is likely to take many years – time that New Mexico does not have to address this imminent public health threat.

‘What is at stake is the health and livelihood of New Mexico families – families that just want the Defense Department to do the right thing and get PFAS out of their lives and communities for good,’ said NMED Cabinet Secretary James Kenney. ‘Until the Department of Defense makes PFAS – not New Mexicans – the enemy, the Environment Department will not rest in our pursuit of resolving this matter…’”