Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics is facing another potential class action lawsuit regarding water contamination caused by PFOA, a toxic chemical used to manufacture Teflon.
The lawsuit is being brought by Kevin Brown, resident of Litchfield, New Hampshire, who claims that Saint-Gobain's Merrimack, NH factory seeped perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) into the groundwater. The suit, which was removed to federal court on Friday, focuses on property damage and property-value damage, claiming that the water contamination drove down property values.
This is the sixth class action filed against Saint-Gobain in the New England region, where the manufacturer has several factories that use PFOA to produce Teflon, which is used in nonstick applications such as cookware and waterproof fabrics.
Environmental regulators in New Hampshire first found contamination when they tested the water around the Saint-Gobain plant in March. Regulators then directed residents of Manchester, Litchfield and Merrimack to start drinking bottled water in April.
Saint-Gobain is also going through four class actions in New York, namely in Hoosick Falls, as well as another in Vermont, over the same chemical.
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