Tissue maker Kleenex has been accused of contaminating a city’s air and drinking water with toxic “forever chemicals.”
Residents of New Milford, Connecticut, about two hours from New York City, say the company’s plant has been releasing these substances that have been linked to cancer and infertility.
The lawsuit, which seeks millions in damages, says chemicals are being released from the factory’s chimney and are also leaking from its 165-acre landfill into local water systems.
Locals say the company has put them at risk of numerous health problems and is driving down housing prices in their area.
The image above shows the Kimberly-Clark factory in New Milford, Connecticut. Smoke can be seen coming from the plant’s chimneys.
Kimberly-Clark, which makes Kleenex, said there were no PFAS in its products
The proposed class action lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Connecticut Federal Court against Kimberly-Clark, the parent company of Kleenex.
The plant is said to use perfluoroalkyl (PFAS) and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals to make its tissue paper.
PFAS are forever toxic chemicals that get their name because they are extremely difficult to break down and persist in the environment for centuries.
Over time, they can build up in waterways and even inside people’s bodies; Previous studies also link the chemicals to weakened immune systems.
PFAS chemicals can be mixed with tissue paper during the manufacturing process to help make the paper pulp more efficient.
They can also end up in paper if they become dislodged from machinery, which is coated with chemicals to prevent paper pulp from sticking.
PFAS are also used in a variety of other products, including kitchen equipment, food packaging such as microwave popcorn bags, and waterproof clothing.
Kimberly-Clark says it does not use PFAS in its fabrics, that the claim is “baseless” and that it plans to defend itself “vigorously” in court.
The lawsuit was filed by Bethany DePaul, Arlene Quaranta and Meredith Quaranta, who live less than three miles from the factory in New Milford.
The lawsuit states: ‘Kimberly-Clark’s manufacturing practices caused smokestack emissions containing PFAS chemicals to become airborne, travel, and ultimately deposit PFAS chemicals on real estate and in public drinking water wells. plaintiffs.
“Kimberly-Clark knew, or reasonably should have known, that PFAS chemicals are toxic, harmful to human health, resist natural degradation, make air, soil and drinking water unsafe and/or unpotable, and They can be removed from the air and water supplies if appropriate measures are taken.’
The lawsuit accuses the company of being negligent, arguing that it has a duty to take reasonable care not to expose residents to toxic chemicals.
They say the company breached that duty because it didn’t warn them that PFAS were being used and didn’t take steps to stop their release.
Houses photographed in New Milford, Connecticut. Locals say the factory is also driving down the price of their homes and polluting local water.
Houses photographed on a street in New Milford, Connecticut, which is about a two-hour drive from New York City
The proposed lawsuit would include all residents living in the area, as New Milford has a population of approximately 6,700 people.
It seeks compensation for financial losses and punitive damages and would require Kimberly-Clark to install water filters and create a fund to pay for residents’ health monitoring.
The court will now need to determine whether the case meets the requirements for class certification (or whether it represents people in the area) and then both sides will need to begin gathering evidence of PFAS chemicals in the area.
Both sides will be encouraged to resolve their differences out of court before the case goes to trial.
It’s unclear how much money locals are asking for, but in a case against DuPont for PFAS contamination last year, the company had to pay more than $1.2 billion in damages and to help clean up the local area.
Thousands of lawsuits have been filed in recent years against PFAS manufacturers and the companies that use the chemicals to create a wide range of products, including lawsuits against other companies that produce paper products in Wisconsin and Maine.
Chemical manufacturers, including 3M, DuPont de Nemours, Chemours and Corteva, have also been sued.
Kimberly-Clark said in a statement: “We believe the allegations raised in this lawsuit are baseless and we plan to vigorously defend against them.”
“We do not use PFAS in any of our consumer products in the United States.”