By Katie Northcott, News Director
The Shelbyville Power, Water & Sewer Systems (SPWSS) Board is taking steps to join a class action lawsuit against companies who have faced accusations of contaminating public drinking water with Perfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), also known as “forever chemicals.”
According to reporting by Reuters, 3M, DuPont de Nemours, Inc., Chemours Co., and Corteva reached settlements in 2023 on hundreds of claims that the companies polluted public drinking water with chemicals. In total, the settlements amounted to over $10 billion.
At the SPWS Board meeting in September, SPWSS attorney Ralph McBride said that Jennifer Noe, an attorney out of Ashland City, had reached out to him regarding a PFAS class action lawsuit. He said the item required more research, and he would give an update at the October meeting.
At the meeting on Oct. 28, Chairperson of the Board Claudia Mallard reported that she had been part of meetings with two different law firms that represent water systems. She said the Duck River had tested positive for the chemicals, making Shelbyville eligible to join the suit. SPWSS pulls water out of the Duck River.
Mallard said the firms estimated SPWSS would get $2 million to $2.1 million if they succeeded in joining the lawsuit. One of the law firms works for a 30/70 take. The other one works for a 60/40 take. Mallard said that the City of Manchester had successfully represented itself in the lawsuit.
“Do you need a firm to represent you? Maybe or maybe not,” Mallard said. “If you do, which one are you going to pick?”
Mallard suggested any settlement money should go toward filtering the chemicals out of SPWSS water. General Manager Jason Reese said that the filtration process could cost $1 million a year.
“We’ve got some more discussions to have. Hopefully, we can recoup enough money to put filtration … on our system to get rid of the PFAS,” Mallard said. “I think it’s imperative that we do that.”
The post Shelbyville Power, Water & Sewer Systems Looks to Join Forever Chemical Lawsuit appeared first on Thunder Radio.
