Read the full article by Carol Thompson (The Detroit News)
“A plastics manufacturing company agreed to clean up PFAS pollution at the site of its former facility in Brighton, Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Monday, marking the first settlement to result from a series of PFAS lawsuits she filed in 2020.
As part of a Jan. 12 consent decree filed in Livingston County Circuit Court, Asahi Kasei Plastics North America Inc., known as APNA, will investigate the extent of PFAS pollution released into the soil, groundwater and surface water from the site on Whitmore Lake Road and determine how far that pollution has migrated.
The company also is responsible for cleaning up pollution where concentrations of PFAS exceed state limits. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy will approve work plans. Major work projects will be subject to public comment before they are approved.
‘Asahi is taking responsibility here, and that means that the community and state as a whole will receive the benefit of a thorough investigation to understand the scope of the issues, in addition to the work needed to prevent exposure to PFAS,’ Nessel said in a Monday virtual press conference announcing the consent decree with Asahi. ‘And, the costs are being paid not by the public but by the entity that used PFAS.’
Asahi will pay for the cleanup, contamination testing, state oversight and the state’s attorney’s fees related to the lawsuit. Assistant Attorney General Polly Synk estimated those costs will be in the millions.
APNA, based in Fowlerville, makes reinforced plastic products for the automotive industry and other industries. It operated the Brighton facility until 2000, company spokesperson Samantha Cronin said. The company has ‘deep ties to the local community’ and is committed to acting responsibly and protecting the state’s environment, she wrote in a statement.”…