Legal Corner: Water systems contaminated with PFAS seek compensation through multidistrict litigation

Water system providers across the United States have joined a multidistrict litigation (MDL) suit claiming that their water supplies are contaminated with per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF). These chemicals have been used for decades to extinguish chemical or petroleum fires at military bases, airports, and industrial facilities. 

By and large, these cases do not allege that the contamination resulted from using AFFF to fight actual oil or chemical fires. Instead, most of these suppliers trace the contamination to the repeated use of AFFF by firefighters at these facilities to conduct training exercises. This practice resulted in substantial quantities of AFFF spread across the ground at these sites, allowing the PFAS in the product to enter the soil, surface water, and, eventually, the groundwater.