PFAS Contamination in the Alabama River System

SSP&A provided expert services in the following four matters related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination in the Alabama River system in Georgia and Alabama:

• City of Gadsden v. 3M Company et. al., Circuit Court of Etowah County, Alabama
• Town of Centre v. 3M Company et al., Circuit Court of Cherokee County, Alabama
• The City of Rome, Georgia v. 3M Company, et al., Superior Court, Floyd County, Georgia
• Jarrod Johnson et al. v. 3M Company, et al., Federal Court, Northern District of Georgia

The source of the contamination is PFAS based copolymers used in the treatment of carpets for repellency characteristics in the headwaters of the river system. A major source of the contamination is a 9,600-acre land application system used by the publicly owned treatment works (POTW) in Dalton, Georgia, where reports indicate 80 percent of all carpets manufactured in the United States were produced. Surface water drainages from the land application systems currently discharge greater than 300 kilograms (kg) of PFOS+PFOA to the headwaters of the river system, with a combined concentration greater than 5,000 nanogram/litre (ng/L). Perfluorooctane sulfonate + perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOS+PFOA) concentrations currently generally exceed 70 ng/L in the potable water intake of the City of Gadsden that is located 150 miles downstream of the land application system.

SSP&A evaluated the available data on fate and migration and developed the hypothesis that ongoing releases of PFAS from the land application system were the result of the slow degradation of the PFAS-based compounds used in carpet treatment that had historically been sprayed at the land application site. SSP&A developed a remedy which includes additional treatment steps for wastewater collection and treatment of runoff, and capping of the wastewater and sludge distribution area.

Dr. Charles Andrews of SSP&A prepared expert reports in the City of Rome and Johnson matters, and provided trial deposition testimony in the City of Gadsden matter. He has been deposed multiple times on these matters. The City of Gadsden and City of Rome matters have settled as of June 1, 2023. The others are ongoing.