CECIL COUNTY — An Enforcement Action has been filed against W.L. Gore in a move that attorneys for the neighbors surrounding three of the material science company’s plants — Cherry Hill, Fair Hill and Appleton Road — say will get swift remediation of their contaminated water supplies.
In Feb. 2023, a Class Action suit was filed against the Cherry Hill plant, claiming that the international textile manufacturing company released per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances — also known as PFAs or “forever chemicals” into the air and water. Lawyers added the Fair Hill and Appleton Road plants to the suit later.
Philip C. Federico, with Baltimore-based law firm Baird, Mandalas, Brockstedt and Federico, said this Enforcement Action has the backing of Maryland Department of the Environment and US EPA for violations of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
“This will get the problem remediated and get property owners compensated for loss of property value and for medical costs,” Federico said Thursday. “This will fix the problem as soon as humanly possible.”
However, that’s at least two- to three years away, he added.
According to the MDE, PFAS are a group of more than 4,000 human-made chemicals that have been used since the 1940s. PFAS chemicals have been classified as “forever chemicals” — meaning that they break down very slowly in nature and are potentially dangerous to human health.
In 2023, unidentified wells in the area were tested and found more than 600 ppt of PFAS. Lawyers accused Gore of “discharging these chemicals both into the waste water and into the air without measuring the amount of chemicals present.”
Gore denied the accusations made in the 2023 lawsuit and said the same for this Enforcement Action lawsuit.
“We deny the allegations, which do not accurately reflect our strong legacy of taking proactive steps to process PTFE responsibly, striving always to minimize any potential environmental impact from our operations,” Amy Calhoun, External Affair and External Communications for W.L. Gore, said in a statement Thursday. “In addition, we have been proactively working in close cooperation with Maryland Department of the Environment to conduct an environmental assessment.”
Calhoun said the company is “dedicated to employing the most current, reliable science and technology to guide our efforts to protect the environment and remain a valued member of the community.”
“Gore recognizes that allegations of this nature prompt concerns among our friends, families, neighbors and fellow Associates who call Cecil County home,” she added. “As a long-standing member of the Cecil County community, Gore takes these concerns very seriously.”
Federico said at least 400 people have officially joined the class action suit, but all will remain eligible and can decide whether to join the suit at settlement.
Meanwhile, he said public and municipal water systems are safer than well water and those with positive well tests for these forever chemicals should look into a filtration system. According to Frederico, a single family home could pay hundreds of dollars, but for a business or a school it would run into the thousands. He added that farmers in the affected areas need to investigate the cleanliness of the water being used to water crops and feed livestock.
Those interested in reading more about Gore’s environmental efforts — including the ongoing expansion programs at Cherry Hill and Fair Hill plants and well sampling at the Appleton Road plant — can go to https://forward.gore.com/ .
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