Attorney general sues chemical makers, marketers over firefighting foam pollution in SC

Attorney General Alan Wilson has sued the makers and distributors of a key weapon used to fight fires at airports and military bases, alleging the material contains toxins that polluted South Carolina’s environment.

Wilson’s lawsuit, filed in state court Tuesday, says firefighting foam contained so-called forever chemicals that the manufacturers and distributors knew would contaminate the environment, even though other “reasonable alternatives’’ could be used.

Wilson’s suit seeks compensation for natural resources damage, such as pollution of rivers and fish, from firefighting foam. But it also seeks compensation for damage to water supplies.

The lawsuit is the second filed by Wilson, a conservative Republican not known for taking action on environmental issues against industry. A suit he filed in August against manufacturers alleged that sources of PFAS other than firefighting foam — such as sewer sludge and wastewater discharges — had polluted the state’s environment.

The attorney general’s lawsuits aren’t unique to South Carolina. There are thousands of legal cases nationally over contamination from the chemicals, which once were widely used to manufacture everyday products, as well as firefighting foam. Nationally, most suits are against the makers and distributors of forever chemicals, formally known as per and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.

Recent settlements, in cases pending in a Charleston federal court, have garnered billions of dollars from two of the biggest makers and distributors, 3M and DuPont, to clean up drinking water contaminated across the country by forever chemicals.

Hundreds of millions of dollars could also potentially come South Carolina’s way from 3M, DuPont and others as a result of the recent Wilson lawsuits. The funds would go to the attorney general’s office and likely be marked for distribution by the Legislature.

“Through this action, Attorney General Wilson is seeking to hold these companies accountable and award South Carolina damages for the decades of injury to South Carolina’s natural resources and public safety caused by the toxic forever chemicals,’’ Wilson’s office said in a news release Wednesday afternoon.

Utilities across South Carolina may need funds because the cost of retrofitting water systems to control PFAS is substantial. Columbia estimates the cost could be more than $100 million.

The latest suit names 3M and DuPont, as well as four companies tied to Dupont, including Chemours.

It also names Tyco Fire Products and Chemguard, companies owned by Johnson Controls Inc. Also named are National Foam Inc., and Buckeye Fire Equipment Co., both of North Carolina.

Efforts to reach representatives of some of the companies were not successful Wednesday afternoon, but a spokesman for DuPont de Nemours, one of the DuPont businesses named in the suit, distanced itself from the others.

DuPont de Nemours “has never manufactured’’ two major types of forever chemicals or firefighting foam, spokesman Daniel Turner said. A spokesperson for Johnson Controls declined comment.

“While we don’t comment on litigation matters, we believe this complaint is without merit, and we look forward to vigorously defending our record of safety, health and environmental stewardship,’’ Turner said in an email.

A spokesman for 3M said the company has learned about PFAS through the years and how it should manage the material. In an email late Wednesday afternoon, 3M spokesman Grant Thompson referred to the recent settlements that he said supports cleanup of PFAS in public water systems.

“We have and will continue to deliver on our commitments — including remediating PFAS, investing in water treatment, and collaborating with communities,’’ he said., noting that “3M also will continue to address other PFAS litigation by defending itself in court or through negotiated resolutions, all as appropriate.’’

A major problem emerging in South Carolina is the pervasiveness of forever chemicals.

The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control has found them in virtually every river it has tested, as well as dozens of drinking water systems. Most recently, DHEC has documented forever chemical pollution in fish, crabs and oysters. The agency issued advisories recently against eating certain types of fish tainted by PFAS.

Forever chemicals are a class of compounds, some of which were created and manufactured beginning in the 1940s. They have been used in non-stick frying pans, carpets and clothing. A major benefit is they are durable and good at repelling water.

They also were used in firefighting foam, a material routinely used in fire training centers, airports and military bases. The material, known formally as aqueous film-forming foam, or AFFF, was developed in the 1960s to fight extremely hot, dangerous fires started by flammable liquids. The foams containing forever chemicals were effective at suffocating fires that could not be put out with just water.

But forever chemicals are also toxic, spread quickly in the environment and easily dissolve in water. They can get into sediments and fish, moving up the food chain, according to the attorney general’s lawsuit this week.

These chemicals, for people exposed over time, can cause certain types of cancer, thyroid problems, elevated cholesterol and immune system deficiencies, making it hard to fight off disease. The major pathway to exposure is eating contaminated food or drinking contaminated water.

Attorney Vincent Sheheen, a former Democratic candidate for governor who was hired by Wilson’s office to help on the case, said lawyers decided to file a second suit specifically about firefighting foam because foam is a more identifiable source than other sources of PFAS noted in the previous suit.

“The AAAF pollution is very specific and it is easier to identify where it came from,’’ Sheheen said. “We know it is clustered around air force bases, airports, these very specific places, whereas (PFAS in wider areas) are coming from products and manufacturing processes. We felt like it was best to deal with this in separate cases.’’

Chemicals from firefighting foam are polluting groundwater, wetlands, soil and/or rivers from eight current or former bases, the suit said. Among them are the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island; McEntire Joint National Guard Base southeast of Columbia; Joint Base Charleston; the old Myrtle Beach Air Force Base; McCrady Training Center in Columbia; and Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, the lawsuit said. The state has previously documented PFAS pollution in private wells serving mobile home parks next to Shaw.

Foam used at the state’s major airports also has polluted the environment, the suit says. Those include Charleston International Airport, Myrtle Beach International Airport, the Columbia Metropolitan Airport and the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport. The S.C. Fire Academy also was a source, the suit says.

Wilson’s suits do not name individual bases, airports or other sites as defendants, noting that the hazards of forever chemicals went largely unknown for years, other than at the manufacturers.

Wilson’s lawsuits follow a series of stories in The State chronicling the hazards of forever chemicals in sewer sludge, another suspected major source of PFAS pollution in groundwater, rivers and soil across South Carolina. Some 3,500 sludge fields dot the state. PFAS from sludge has been tied to contaminated water in Darlington County, The State reported in July.

This story has been updated with comments from DuPont and 3M.