CONNECTICUT, USA — Three lead plaintiffs representing hundreds of thousands of Connecticut customers have serious concerns about the state’s drinking water supply and believe two major suppliers need to do more to remove them.
The plaintiffs are represented by Stamford-based Silver, Golub, and Teitell, which filed a class action lawsuit in Connecticut Superior Court on Wednesday against Clinton-based Connecticut Water and Bridgeport’s Aquarion for allegedly knowingly supplying water contaminated with cancer-causing forever chemicals, PFAS. Combined, the two companies service 119 Connecticut cities and towns.
“The water companies have done very little to meaningfully reduce those levels to nondetectable levels. We now know that any amount of PFAS exposure or exposure to these chemicals is harmful. So, the goal should be for these water companies to reduce the amount of PFAS in their water to nondetectable levels and they have not done that,” said Partner Ian Sloss said Thursday.
Sloss said both companies practice ‘blending’ mixing highly contaminated water with clean water.
“That just reduces the contamination. It doesn’t eliminate it,” he said.
The suit calls on the water companies to utilize existing technologies to remove all PFAS chemicals from the water supply.
In a statement, Connecticut Water said, “The water provided by Connecticut Water to its customers is in compliance with all current and state and federal regulations for drinking water, including PFAS."
“The company proactively began testing for PFAS in 2019 and, in those instances where it was detected, customers were notified of its presence. Test results are also included in the annual water quality reports available to customers.
Connecticut Water is closely following the U.S. EPA’s proposed standard for PFAS in drinking and will treat the water to the standard set by EPA to remain in compliance with drinking water standards.”
Technology exists that can reduce forever chemicals to nondetectable levels. Sloss said plaintiffs want to see that employed.
“Both Connecticut Water and Aquarion despite knowing about contamination levels have not installed any of these technologies to our knowledge to reduce the amount of PFAS in their water to zero across the board,” Sloss said.
Aquarion put out a statement following the lawsuit saying:
"Aquarion Water Company takes the quality of its water very seriously to ensure that it meets or exceeds all state and federal water quality standards. Currently, there are no federal or state (Connecticut) enforceable standards for the treatment of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
Aquarion is committed to continuing to work closely with policymakers, regulators, and other stakeholders to address PFAS. In March 2023, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) which is expected to be finalized in late 2023/early 2024.
Under the proposed regulation, water systems will have three years to be in compliance with these new standards. Effective collaboration between water companies and public officials will be critical to ensuring these standards are met.
While there are currently no federal or state (Connecticut) enforceable standards, Aquarion has been proactively testing its water systems since 2019."
Samaia Hernandez is a reporter for FOX61 News. She can be reached at shernandez@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, X, and Instagram.
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