Two west Michigan landfills are the latest to file lawsuits over contamination from harmful PFAS chemicals.
The federal lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan last week accuses Wolverine Worldwide of disposing waste that it knew, or should have known, was contaminated with PFAS, PFOS, and other similar chemicals, in the landfills without disclosing that. The chemicals were in a waterproofing product made by 3M.
The Central Sanitary Landfill, located in Mecosta County, argues in the lawsuit that it’s had to take “extensive response actions” to contain the harmful chemicals, which it said have leached from the original disposal site. The second landfill, the Ottawa County Landfill in Coopersville, said in the lawsuit it’s had to build a deep well injection facility to pump water more than a mile underground so that potentially harmful contamination doesn’t reach the local water supply.
The two landfills are operated by separate entities, but they’re listed as part of a network of landfills controlled by Republic Services, a Phoenix-based company. According to Michigan business records, both landfills have the same business address, which is also the corporate headquarters of Republic Services.
The lawsuit seeks a judgment that would force Wolverine Worldwide and 3M to pay for the ongoing efforts to keep PFAS at the landfills from leaching into drinking water.
Neither 3M nor Wolverine Worldwide responded to emails from Michigan Public seeking comment, but Wolverine Worldwide told MLive, which first reported the lawsuit, that other sources of PFAS at the landfills would be contributing to the contamination and that the company would defend itself in court.
This is the latest in a long series of lawsuits filed against the two companies.
Wolverine Worldwide agreed to settle one lawsuit in 2020 and pay up to $69.5 million to connect homes in Kent County to a centralized water supply, after wells were found to have been contaminated with PFAS and other related chemicals. 3M agreed to pay Wolverine $55 million to help pay the settlement. In a separate settlement involving the same area, the companies agreed to pay an additional $54 million to individual homeowners.
PFAS, and its family of chemicals, which have been linked with a variety of health problems, have been found at multiple landfill sites in the Grand Rapids area
Representatives for Wolverine Worldwide and 3M did not immediately respond to emails from Michigan Public requesting comment.
