Read the full article by Christine Condon (The Baltimore Sun)
“The maker of the renowned Gore-Tex waterproofing for outdoor gear polluted groundwater near two of its plants in Northeastern Maryland with a hazardous ‘forever chemical,’ according to the Maryland Department of the Environment.
State investigations at the manufacturing sites in the Elkton, Maryland, area of Cecil County indicate W.L. Gore & Associates released a harmful type of the long-lasting PFAS pollutants, formally known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, at some point in its decades-long past, said Tyler Abbott, director of MDE’s land and materials administration. The locations are the company’s Cherry Hill and Fair Hill facilities.
Some of the homes closest to the sites, residences that mostly relied on wells, saw elevated levels of PFAS in their drinking water as a result, MDE says.
Revelations that PFAS chemicals are astoundingly persistent in the environment, and that some pose a threat to human health, have thrust Gore, whose products are beloved by outdoors enthusiasts, into the center of a vexing environmental problem, compelled it to reimagine its namesake brand and left it facing lawsuits from a former employee and neighbors.” …