New Jersey AG Filed Natural Resource Damages Lawsuit Over PFAS Contamination

NOVEMBER 10, 2020

New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal filed a lawsuit against Solvay Specialty Polymers USA and its predecessor Arkema Inc., the operators of a facility in Gloucester County, NJ, that has been linked to significant per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance contamination. The complaint noted that surface water and public drinking water in the vicinity of the site have been contaminated with perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), a type of PFAS, at concentrations “higher than has been reported anywhere else in the world.” The lawsuit sought damages and cleanup costs from the companies, and noted that Solvay “has repeatedly sought to blame other actors for PFNA contamination in the surrounding area, despite that it was the dominant user of PFNA in the area for decades.”