Toxic PFAS, the “forever chemical,” has gotten into the drinking water around a Kleenex factory in Connecticut.
The Kleenex company is being sued by a group of people who believe they put people’s health and property values at risk. These chemicals are often used to make paper products, but the factory is close to drinking water wells in the area.
“Finding out that their drinking water has dangerous levels of PFAS in it has been stressful,” said the lawyer working on the case. “Now that they know they’ve been exposed to PFAS for a long time, they want to keep an eye on their health.”
Kimberly-Clark, the company that owns Kleenex, said in a statement that the pollution did not come from their plant.
The chemicals are still dangerous, even though the parts are common and can be found in things like pots, waterproof items, and heat-resistant items. Some people call them “forever chemicals” because they stay in the environment for a long time and don’t break down. This means that they can end up in drinking water.
People have known for a while that chemicals are being dumped into water, but they have only lately started to look into how air pollution can also affect and pollute water. If you throw these chemicals into the air, they will land somewhere and can move through dirt and water because they don’t break down.
It’s about three miles away from the plant for the three claimants, not further downstream. This means that air pollution is the only source of liability.
More news stories said that the factory dumped “short fiber waste” that contained the chemical right into a landfill close to the plant, which was not far from a river or other bodies of water. A lot of government officials say that this plant is making the neighborhood even more polluted.
