Maryland Sues Gore-Tex for Polluting State’s Waters With PFAS

The State of Maryland is suing the makers of Gore-Tex waterproof clothing for polluting the drinking water of residents living around the company’s rural Maryland facilities with toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) “forever chemicals.”

The WL Gore and Associates facilities, located roughly 90 miles from Baltimore, have been polluting residents’ water with PFAS levels as high as 700 times the federal limit, reported The Guardian.

“At the same time that Gore was profiting from the products it manufactured in Maryland, it knew for decades that PFOA was toxic and posed significant risks to human health and the environment and failed to warn the State or the communities living around its facilities of the dangers posed by its PFAS. Instead, Gore concealed those dangers to protect its corporate image and limit its liability,” the state’s complaint alleges.

The company’s “acts and omissions” surrounding PFAS released into the environment from its facilities have contaminated not only residents’ drinking water, but the area’s surface water, groundwater, wildlife, soil, sediment, other natural resources and state property.

“Maryland residents living near Gore’s facilities have been and continue to be exposed to PFAS through contaminated drinking water and ingestion or inhalation of contaminated soil and dust, among other ways,” the complaint says.

Exposure to the contaminated water led to high rates of cancer and other illnesses, a separate class action suit by about 4,000 people claims.

Both lawsuits say the company was aware of the dangers of its products as far back as the 1980s, but did nothing to stop the pumping of PFAS into local waters — which flow into Chesapeake Bay — and emissions of the dangerous chemicals from smokestacks.

Gore said it only became aware of the presence of hazardous perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) — a common PFAS compound — in area groundwater two years ago, suggesting it was not responsible for all of the pollution.

Attorney for the plaintiffs Philip Federico dismissed the claim, pointing out that the chemicals detected in the water were the same as those used by Gore.

“They’re really not in a position to say it’s not their PFAS – they know it is, and everyone else knows it,” Federico said, as The Guardian reported.

A class of roughly 15,000 chemicals, PFAS are often used to make water-, stain- and heat-resistant products. They accumulate in the environment, wildlife and humans, and have been associated with many serious health issues, including kidney disease, immune disorders, birth defects, liver problems and cancer.

In 2023, the United States Environmental Protection Agency found that there was almost no level of PFOA in drinking water that was safe.

Gore used PFOA in the production of PTFE — another PFAS — that the company then applied to products like clothing, furniture, carpets and food packaging.

Gore said it was working with state regulators and providing filtration systems or drinking water to some residents.

“Gore denies the allegations in the various lawsuits that have been recently filed. We have been and will remain committed to the health and safety of our Associates, our community, and the environment,” a statement on the company’s website said.

The lawsuit described how the PFAS industry had knowledge during the 1970s that the chemicals were harmful, with an executive at Gore knowing by at least 1990. The company continued to tell employees the substances were safe even as they got sick with PFAS-associated diseases and some died from them.

The suit claims the company essentially lied to regulators starting in 1995 and later destroyed documents that detailed its pollution.

“Maryland therefore brings this action to hold Gore responsible for the consequences of Gore’s releases of PFOA and other PFAS into Maryland for more than 50 years. Despite its knowledge regarding the potential risks to human health and the environment, and its awareness of the need to abate and mitigate PFAS releases from its Maryland operations, Gore failed, for decades, to prevent PFAS releases into the air, lands, and waters around its facilities,” Maryland’s complaint reads.

The class action suit, along with the lawsuit by the state of Maryland, demands that Gore pay for cleanup and medical costs; foot the bill for water utility upgrades; and provide residents with clean water, among other measures.

“Gore’s actions have contaminated the State’s natural resources and have put Maryland residents’ health at risk. Through this complaint, the State seeks to (a) recover all past and future costs to investigate, remediate, and restore lands and waters of the State contaminated by PFOA and other PFAS discharged and emitted from Gore’s 13 facilities in and around Elkton; (b) abate the public nuisance created by Gore’s PFAS emissions, discharges, and releases; and (c) obtain damages for injuries resulting from the contamination,” the state’s complaint says.

Correction: An earlier version of this article mistakenly referred to attorney for the plaintiffs Philip Federico as attorney for the state.