ATLANTA – Representatives of Georgia manufacturers asked state lawmakers Tuesday to pass legislation shielding them from lawsuits brought by victims of contamination from “forever chemicals” – known as PFAS – in their water.
But lawyers representing those victims told members of the House Judiciary Committee companies including carpet and textile manufacturers knew the wastewater they were dumping was polluted and should be held responsible.
House Bill 211 would shield from legal liability companies that have used PFAS chemicals, typically to make fabric stain resistant and fire retardant, while holding companies that produce the chemicals – including DuPont and 3M – responsible for polluting rivers and streams with cancer-causing pollutants.
Only companies guilty of “willful misconduct” in using PFAS chemicals would not be shielded from lawsuits.
“(PFAS manufacturers) sold them to us as safe,” said Rep. Kasey Carpenter, R-Dalton, the bill’s chief sponsor. “(This) focuses the attention of litigation on the chemical companies that willfully neglected protecting consumers.”
“Many of my members are being drawn into lawsuits over something they had no control over,” added Brittney Hull, vice president of government affairs for the Georgia Association of Manufacturers. “They used a product deemed legal and, as such, should not be held liable.”
But the bill’s opponents argued the companies that have used PFAS chemicals were aware they were unsafe and continued to use them anyway.
“This bill imposes a get-out-of-jail-free card for Mohawk, Shaw, and others,” said Andy Davis, a lawyer representing the Northwest Georgia cities of Rome, Summerville, Chatsworth, and Calhoun, which are being forced to clean up PFAS pollution and charge their taxpayers for the cost. “People responsible for putting it in the waterways, once they know about it, they’re responsible.”
Amber Fletcher, who lives in Dalton downstream from Mohawk Industries Inc. storage ponds with her husband and six children, said the creek by her house has been found to contain dangerous levels of PFAS chemicals.
“Our children play in that creek,” she said. “They need to be held accountable for what they did.”
The committee ran short of time Tuesday morning and did not vote on the bill. The Crossover Day deadline for bills to pass either the state House or Senate to remain alive for the year, falls on Thursday.