Veolia filed a lawsuit Tuesday against current or former manufacturers at six sites upstream of its drinking water plant in Wilmington, Delaware, alleging they contaminated water with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
The company is seeking to recover the cost to build its $35 million granular activated carbon facility last year that filters out PFAS at the Stanton Water Treatment Plant, plus ongoing maintenance costs.
The manufacturers produced a range of materials at the sites, including certain PFAS chemicals themselves. Veolia alleges current operations at all the defendants’ sites continue to contribute to the PFAS load in the water that enters its Stanton plant.
The lawsuit is the latest example of a business seeking to shift liability for PFAS contamination upstream of facilities that did not actively manufacture or use the substances. PFAS, which are linked to negative health effects at low concentrations and do not fully break down in the environment, have been increasingly regulated.