Aqua Pa. sues company, alleging it contaminated drinking water source with ‘significant’ levels of PFAS
The suit says a waterway tested downstream of Arkema’s West Chester plant showed three compounds were above allowable levels.
Aqua Pennsylvania has filed a federal suit against a King of Prussia-based chemical manufacturer, accusing the company of negligence for contaminating a creek used as part of a network of waterways that supply thousands of people in Delaware and Chester Counties with drinking water.
The suit, filed this week in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, says that the waterway, part of the Goose Creek watershed, showed “significant contamination” from a class of human-made compounds known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) when tested downstream of Arkema Inc.’s plant on Bolmar Street in West Chester.
PFAS are often referred to as “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down easily in the environment and in humans. The suit notes studies showing that exposure to PFAS may result in developmental effects to fetuses during pregnancy or to breastfed infants and are associated with cancer, liver damage, thyroid disease, and high cholesterol.
Three types of PFAS compounds were found in the water.
“The testing revealed high levels of PFOS, PFOA, and PFNA,” the suit stated, concluding, that “testing likewise indicated that the Bolmar Street facility was a source of the PFAS flowing ultimately toward [Aqua’s] Water System located downstream from the testing site.”
Aqua says in the suit that it serves about 16,000 customers with drinking water from the watershed contaminated by PFAS. Aqua pulls from the watershed to supply customers in Delaware County and a small portion in Chester County. Communities served include Media, Rose Valley, Middletown, Upper Providence, Nether Providence, Chester Heights, Aston, Marple, and Ridley Townships.
The lawsuit does not specify whether PFAS ever reached those customers, or, if so, at what concentrations. It says that PFAS got into its main system, which draws from rivers, creeks, and wells.
Aqua sent a statement in response to a series of Inquirer questions, saying it “continues to advocate for actions to hold polluters accountable” and to ensure “that the ultimate responsibility for the cleanup of these contaminants is attributed to the polluters … to address the contamination of its public water supply systems by PFAS.”
The company said it had no further comment.
Dave Schrader, a spokesperson for Arkema, said the company does not “comment on active litigation.”
Exceeding allowable limits
The contamination stems back years, according to the suit.
Testing, treatment, and standards for PFAS are still relatively new, with major concerns emerging in the 2000s. In 2016, the EPA issued a health advisory that offered guidance on maximum allowable levels. Water companies began sample testing, expecting more rigid standards would soon be set.
Pennsylvania set standards for PFAS in 2023.
» READ MORE: Pennsylvania DEP proposes strict limits for ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water
Last year, the EPA announced maximum contaminant levels for PFOA, PFOS, and PFNA in drinking water. PFOA and PFOS limits were set at 4.0 parts per trillion. PFNA was set at 10.0 parts per trillion.
The lawsuit is based on testing that Aqua started in 2019 at locations between Union Street in West Chester and its Goose Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency tested additional nearby sites that same year.
Aqua’s test showed 1,704 parts per trillion for PFNA at a location off Lacey Street in West Chester.
And a location off Mosteller Park in West Chester returned 1,810 parts per trillion for PFNA in testing by the EPA.
Although the tests were not samples of drinking water, the EPA noted that “they represent source water” for public water systems.
Aqua tested surface water at its Chester Creek intake for the presence of multiple PFAS chemicals, including PFOS, PFOA, and PFNA, according to the suit.
“Testing has revealed PFOS, PFOA, and PFNA levels that exceed EPA’s drinking water” standards, the suit states.
Aqua said it will cost it a significant amount of money to sample the water “for the next 100 years,” find other sources of water, and maintain treatment systems to remove PFAS contamination. Aqua is seeking an unspecified amount of money as compensation, as well as punitive damages.
A pair of 21-foot-high steel tanks the company installed in 2023 to filter water for PFAS in Bucks County cost $1 million.
What’s Arkema?
Arkema is a French manufacturer of specialty materials. Its U.S. headquarters are in King of Prussia. The lawsuit contends the contamination comes from Arkema’s facility on Bolmar Street in West Chester that has been used to make acrylates and other specialty chemicals used for surface coatings, adhesives, and sealants. The suit contends PFAS were used as an ingredient to aid in that production.
The Bolmar Street facility had been used by a variety of companies over the years. One of those, Sartomer USA LLC, became a subsidiary of Arkema in 2011.
The Arkema-Sartomer facility is adjacent to a waterway that feeds Goose Creek, which flows into Chester Creek.
Aqua’s water system serving the affected areas in Delaware County pulls from two surface water intakes, one at Ridley Creek and one at Chester Creek.
Aqua says in the suit that Arkema should have known “that the improper use, transport, storage, handling, release, discharge, and/or disposal” of PFAS compounds would get into the water.