SALISBURY, MD - Perdue Farms has formally requested that the U.S. District Court of Maryland dismiss a lawsuit against them over alleged PFAS, or “forever chemical”, contamination in groundwater at properties near their Salisbury plant.
The class action lawsuit, filed in October by law firm Baird Mandalas Brockstedt and Federico on behalf of homeowners who live near the Perdue Agribusiness facility on Zion Church Road, seeks monetary damages and remediation for Perdue’s alleged role in PFAS groundwater contamination. The suit was filed shortly after Perdue announced it was conducting testing for and investigating elevated PFAS levels at the site and nearby homes.
As of December 19, Perdue said it had tested 95 percent of homes that requested it and had begun installing water filtration systems. The number of homes notified of possible contamination jumped from 550 to 920 in November.
According to court documents filed Monday, December 23, Perdue claims the plaintiffs hastily brought forward a lawsuit lacking both accuracy and viability.
“Plaintiffs have raced to this courthouse to file a complaint before having gathered the facts necessary to articulate viable claims,” the motion reads.
Perdue goes on to argue that the plaintiffs have failed to prove that any PFAS, let alone the PFAS supposedly found at their Salisbury facility, have been found in their drinking water. According to Perdue, plaintiffs also have not shown the assumed PFAS have caused any negative health effects, or that the chemicals are connected to the Perdue AgriBusiness site.
“In filing this motion to dismiss, Defendants do not seek to minimize concerns about PFA at [Perdue AgriBusiness], but Plaintiffs’ haste has resulted in an abject failure to put forth the basic facts necessary to demonstrate injury and causation, elements of each claim they assert,” Perdue’s legal team argues.
Perdue also makes the claim that some of the Plaintiff’s properties were found not to have detectable levels of PFAS in their well water, though admits to working with the Maryland Department of Environment (MDE) to put both remedial and preventive measures in place at other properties.
As an alternative to outright dismissal of the case, Perdue argues the court should at least place the lawsuit on hold until MDE has completed its investigation of the elevated PFAS levels. MDE previously named Perdue as a “responsible person” in that investigation, though Perdue maintains the source of the chemicals is still unknown.
WBOC has reached out to the legal team representing the plaintiffs in this case. This article will be updated as more information becomes available.
