Sunday, September 22, 2024–6:05 p.m.
-Blake Silvers, Calhoun Times-
This story is possible because of a news-sharing agreement with the Rome News-Tribune. More information can be found at northwestgeorgianews.com
A large crowd turned out Saturday morning for a town hall meeting hosted by the group PFAS Georgia to discuss area water contamination.
Formed by attorneys, PFAS Georgia also includes consumer and environmental advocate Erin Brockovich, as well as water resource manager Bob Bowcock. Saturday’s meeting saw hundreds file into The Spot 365 venue on South Industrial Boulevard.
Brockovich, who was the subject of the self-titled 2000 film starring Georgia native Julia Roberts spoke to the crowd during the event and stayed to meet with attendees after the town hall ended.
“It is your land, your water, and your health, and that is worth fighting for,” Brockovich said.
Estimated attendance at the Calhoun town hall was 227, with around 257 attendees counted at Friday night’s PFAS Georgia meeting in nearby Chatsworth.
Presentations during Saturday’s town hall namely were directed at claims of water and environmental contamination by chemical giant 3M, and the potential health risks associated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a group of man-made chemicals used in a host of industrial and consumer products for around 80 years.
“This is not something that just cropped up suddenly overnight in your land or your water,” Brockovich said. “This has been going on for decades. I’m mad, I’m frustrated. I can’t imagine how you’re going to be, and how you’re going to feel, but this is really happening, and it’s really hard to wrap your mind around it.”
Brockovich said 3M knew of the dangers PFAS posed to human health and the environment and has written a book titled “Superman’s Not Coming” that addresses America’s ongoing water issues.
“It has destroyed land, waters, and the food chain, and it just continues to march on, and on, and on,” she said. “What I have learned, and what I do know … is when you know, when I know, and we do better, and we join together … we have got to stop this.”
Information shared during the town hall suggested that the manufacture and use of PFAS over the decades has led to widespread environmental and health issues across the nation.
“Everyone in this room has PFAS — including me — in their bloodstream right now,” water resources manager Bob Bowcock said. “It’s just a question of what the levels are. There are no safe levels, but there are levels that make it so high that it starts to have medical effects.”
Attorney Ben Finley, the man responsible for organizing the PFAS Georgia group, said his main focus is spreading awareness about the dangers posed by the PFAS family of chemicals.
“These chemicals are causing cancers. They are causing connections between liver cancers, prostate cancers, ovarian cancers,” Finley said. “It is damaging our property. Businesses are being hurt. We’ve got folks like organic farmers who are losing their organic farm designation because their crops have been compromised. We’ve got landowners whose water has been compromised.”
Finley thanked the local citizen-led group Calhoun: Water Matters for helping to shed light on the area’s PFAS issue.
Recent PFAS litigation
A year ago, 3M agreed to pay the City of Rome $75 million as part of a lawsuit settlement concerning the discharge of PFAS and PFOAS chemicals into area waterways. The Minnesota-based chemical manufacturer has pledged to phase out production of PFAS by the end of next year.
In August, the City of Calhoun settled a federal PFAS case with the Southern Environmental Law Center and regional watershed watchdog Coosa River Basin Initiative. That settlement was in part made possible by the city’s ongoing effort to overhaul its wastewater pretreatment program and to regulate PFAS thought to be associated with area industries.
Another suit this year from the Moss Land Company contends that the city had been dumping waste from a water treatment plant on their land for disposal for years. According to the suit, the waste was contaminated with forever chemicals because the City of Calhoun processes wastewater from manufacturers associated with PFAS.
That suit claims the city had dumped over 28,000 tons of the contaminated sludge on part of their property in Sludge Field 11, which is directly next to the Coosa River and upstream of the city’s main drinking water intake. The suit also claimed that they were not aware of the fact that the waste was contaminated, and requested for the city to handle cleanup costs.
Those properties are large tracts in Gordon County. Moss Land Company owns 2,700 acres of land on Pine Chapel Road bordering the Coosawattee River, while the William Darryl Edwards Revocable Living Trust, with William Darryl Edwards as Trustee, owns 102 acres.
Calhoun has since sued chemical companies like 3M, Chemours, DuPont, and others, with the city seeking damages and hoping to recover attorney fees incurred during litigation, as well as a court order to halt future forever chemical contamination in the area. The chemical companies have since sought to have litigation dismissed by the courts.
In May, Atlanta-based law firm Timberlake, League and Brooks filed a lawsuit on behalf of a number of residents seeking compensation from numerous defendants for “loss of property value and other damages resulting from PFAS contamination.” The firm says it continues to investigate claims for illness related to PFAS ingestion and exposure.
How to stay informed
For more information about PFAS Georgia and their work in the area, visit pfasgeorgia.com online.
To keep up with local PFAS information, the City of Calhoun has established a page at cityofcalhoun-ga.com/pfas-information online, and the Calhoun: Water Matters coalition can be found on Facebook. CRBI also has local PFAS information available at coosa.org online.
CRBI and the SELC will host a pair of public meetings of their own this Wednesday, Sept. 25, at 4 p.m., and 7 p.m., to discuss the recent PFAS settlement between CRBI and the city. The meetings will be held at the GEM Theatre, 114 N. Wall St., and are open to the public.