The Suffolk County Water Authority on Thursday sued the Dow Chemical Co., the 3M Co. and nine other manufacturers and distributors of firefighting foams, industrial degreasers, laundry detergents and other household products, claiming they contained harmful chemicals that polluted the county’s public water wells.
All three chemicals have the potential to cause cancer, according to the he U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The water authority, which serves 1.2 million residents in Suffolk County and maintains about 600 wells, is suing the companies to recover “substantial” costs to treat and clean up the contaminants now and in the future, arguing that the companies knew or should have known that these chemicals would end up in the county’s groundwater and threaten public health.
Spokespeople for seven companies declined to comment or did not return calls seeking comments.
Currently, the water authority is using a granular-activated carbon treatment system to remove PFOA and/or PFOS from drinking water at about 15 wells throughout the county, according to its spokesman.
“During routine training exercises, .
1,4-dioxane, the lawsuit said, does not stick to soil and does not break down easily.
There is no drinking water standard for the chemical, which has been found in trace amounts in more than half of the authority’s wells.
“In sum, once it is applied, discharged, disposed of, or otherwise released onto land, 1,4-dioxane migrates through the subsurface and into groundwater, resists natural degradation, and is difficult and costly to remove from water,” according to the lawsuit.
The Suffolk County Water Authority has reached settlements in the past with makers and sellers of dry cleaning compounds and equipment for contaminating the county’s drinking water, authority officials said.