RUTLAND — Bennington residents with PFOA-contaminated drinking water are seeking to expand their lawsuit to include others affected by the chemical exposure.
A group of Bennington residents who filed a lawsuit in 2016 against Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics are seeking to have the company pay for property damages from groundwater contamination and long-term medical monitoring. One plaintiff’s drinking water well had 2,730 parts per trillion PFOA, according to a court filing, significantly higher than the state’s 20 ppt combined drinking water advisory.
Currently, there are nine plaintiffs, but that group is seeking to expand the lawsuit by obtaining “class status” for Bennington residents impacted by PFOA contamination. There would be one class for the thousands of residents who live in the “zone of contamination,” and a smaller class for Bennington area residents with elevated levels of the chemical in their blood.
Hearings on whether to grant the plaintiffs’ request for a class action lawsuit and other pending issues began in the federal U.S. District Court in Rutland in front of Judge Geoffrey Crawford on April 15. The plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial.
Vermont state officials tested drinking water wells in North Bennington near the former ChemFab plant in 2016. By April of 2017, the state had tested 570 private drinking water wells, with 276 showing elevated levels of PFOA, according to the plaintiffs’ amended complaint.
PFOA was used nationally in the manufacture of Teflon, and used in products like nonstick cookware, stain-resistant carpets and fabrics, water repellent clothing, paper and cardboard food packaging. The chemical has been detected in a number of states in apparent connection to manufacturing facilities.
Scientists have linked exposure to PFOA with increased risks of certain kinds of cancer, thyroid disease, immune system damages, developmental problems in children and low birth weight.
The plaintiffs enlisted Alan Ducatman, a doctor who specializes in industrial chemical toxicology, to prepare reports in support of their requests, including outlining a medical monitoring program. Saint-Gobain then filed reports from three doctors calling into question Ducatman’s claims.
On Monday, Philippe Grandjean, a professor of environmental medicine at the University of Southern Denmark and expert for the plaintiffs, said that researchers had initially been convinced that PFAS compounds were safe because they were relatively stable.
“We were naive – not just optimistic – we were naive and allowed very high exposure limits in the beginning,” he said.
Grandjean critiqued the defense team’s expert reports in court, saying two of the doctors enlisted by the defense had not even done PFAS research. He also said they published articles in publications that were known to favor industry and that one doctor had worked for 3M, which first made and sold PFOA.
“Those three reports, I don’t find them useful at all and not at all convincing,” he said of the defense’s rebuttals.
Bert Wolff, a lawyer for Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, grilled Grandjean during cross-examination. He called into question Grandjean’s methods in preparing his report, saying that he did not clearly describe how he assessed the hundreds of studies he cited.
“You wouldn’t know how you weighed them reading your report,” he said.
Grandjean responded that a fellow expert would be able to understand how he assessed the research, adding that he felt including hundreds of pages of “immunology 101” explanations were unnecessary.
Wolff also attempted to cast doubt on Ducatman’s and Grandjean’s assertions about the dangers of PFOA exposure and the need for long-term medical monitoring for Bennington area residents. He said while there has been research that shows an association between PFOA and medical conditions, there has not been research yet that directly links PFOA exposure to a particular disease.
Grandjean said that medical conditions associated with PFAS exposure, such as kidney cancer, increased cholesterol and immune system effects, are linked to a number of factors, making it difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of diseases.
Ducatman said the defense was off-base in wanting to see medical records from the plaintiffs in an effort to avoid having to pay for medical monitoring for the whole group of residents with elevated PFOA levels.
“You’re not here looking for reasons to exclude people based on individual characteristics,” he said of medical monitoring.
Earlier this month, state officials announced a multi-million dollar settlement with Saint-Gobain to extend municipal water lines for Bennington residents who have wells contaminated by PFOA — a toxic PFAS chemical that has now been phased out by industry.
Chemfab operated in North Bennington from 1970 through 2000, when it was purchased by Saint-Gobain. The local facility, which applied coatings to fiberglass fabrics, closed in 2002 and operations were moved by Saint-Gobain to New Hampshire.
The plaintiffs’ legal team includes attorneys from Davis & Whitlock, of Asheville, North Carolina; Langrock Sperry & Wool, in Middlebury; and BarrSternberg.
Saint-Gobain’s legal team includes attorneys from Dechert, in New York City, and from Downs Rachlin Martin, in Brattleboro.
Emily Joselson, an attorney for the plaintiff, said Crawford is expected to rule within the next month or two on the class certification issue.
