Read the full article here by Adam Wagner (The Dispatch)

“The North Carolina Department of Justice filed suit Thursday against more than a dozen manufacturers of firefighting foam that contains toxic ‘forever chemicals,’ accusing the companies of failing to tell those using the foam how to properly handle it, leading to groundwater contamination at four sites across the state.

N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein is announcing the lawsuits this morning at a Charlotte briefing alongside members of the Charlotte International Association of Fire Fighters Local 660 and the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.

‘We want the companies that manufactured this product, knew or should have known of its risks and then sold it to either the local government for the firefighters or the federal government to pay to clean up the PFAS and remove the risk to North Carolinians,’ Stein told The News & Observer.

The lawsuit’s claims against 14 manufacturers of Aqueous Film Forming Foam, also known as AFFF, include public nuisance, design defect and failure to warn end users like airports and firefighters. The state is seeking damages to cover the cost of cleanup and removal, water treatment, well replacement and monitoring.

The lawsuits, which were filed in county Superior Courts Thursday, are the second to emerge from the attorney general’s ongoing investigation of PFAS in North Carolina. The previous lawsuit, filed against the chemical companies Chemours and DuPont, alleged that DuPont spun off its performance chemical line because it knew of the risks posed by GenX and other chemicals and wanted to limit its potential losses. Chemours, DuPont and 3M are also among the defendants in the foam lawsuit.

PFAS are valuable chemicals, prized for their water resistance and durability. But those same traits mean that they build up in humans over time. Scientists have linked PFAS to a wide range of health effects, including certain cancers, high cholesterol and a weakened immune system.

Aqueous Film Forming Foam, often known as AFFF, is created by mixing a substance that resembles laundry detergent with water. That substance carries substantial amounts of PFOA and PFOS, two PFAS chemicals that have largely been phased out of other aspects of life.”…