The Industry Leader on PFAS

Case Study

PFAS Contamination Fines Averted

Our client was a light industrial company that did not use PFAS in any aspect of its business, although it stored several types of chemical waste on its property for later disposal. A fire damaged a large portion of the company building where the chemicals were stored. The fire caused several containers of chemicals to explode and the fire department used a PFAS-containing foam to extinguish the fire. The resulting chemical and PFAS contamination to the company’s land was investigated by the Massachusetts DEP, and the DEP expanded their investigation to nearby waterways and ponds due to concerns over PFAS contamination to drinking water sources. If held responsible for the PFAS in the water sources, our client was at risk for tens of thousands of dollars in fine and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cleanup costs.

We aggressively fought back for our client and spent months working with experts who tested the geological features and took dozens of soil and water samples. Our team investigated likely alternate sources of PFAS contamination by obtaining records from several public entities, subpoenaing records from nearby property owners, and fought to have government records pertaining to a nearby likely pollution source turned over to us in our effort to defend our client. Armed with all of this information, we conducted numerous rounds of negotiations with the DEP, which ultimately led to the DEP dropping the PFAS contamination allegations against our client, thereby saving the company hundreds of thousands of dollars.