National Rural Water PFAS Lawsuit - UPDATE

UPDATE: Massachusetts PFAS Standard Set/Cost Recovery Suit

On October 2, 2020, MassDEP published its PFAS public drinking water standard (MMCL) of 20 nanograms per liter (ng/L) (or parts per trillion (ppt)) - indiviually or for the sum of the concentrations of six specific PFAS.

Cost Recovery: The National Rural Water Association (NRWA), of which Mass Rural Water is one of 49 State Rural Water Association members, has initiated a Cost Recovery Class Action Lawsuit, for recovery of cost associated with testing, treament, and remediation. We encourage you to register your system if you have detected PFAS at any level or your water supply is near an airport, military base, fire fighting activity, or a manufacturer, who may have used these forever compounds. Your customers should not be held financially liable for these expenses resulting in increased water rates.

There are three (3) key points you should know:
1. The lawsuit is against the manufacturers of the compounds, not a local company who may have used the compounds.

2. There is no upfront cost for the utility to register as a participant. All upfront costs are absorbed by the law firm.

3. Your utility will have the option of accepting or rejecting the settlement, so there is everything to gain and nothing to lose by registering your particiaption, but, you must be registered in the suit to participate in the settlement.

The law firm engaged in this suit, by NRWA, is Napoli Shkolnik, who is nationally recognized as a leader in these types of environmental issues. Paul Napoli was part of the MTBE class action suit in the 80's, represented the 9/11 first responders, and has been named co-lead counsel in the PFAS multidistrict litigation. He and this firm are experts in water and wastewater environmental issues. More information is available at http://www.napolilaw.com/nrwa-pfas/. We strongly encourage your system to register as a participant at this site or call Sam Wade, who recently retired as the CEO of NRWA, and is currently employed as a rural water consultant by Napoli Shkolnik law firm. His email is swade@napolilaw.com, and mobile phone is 580-917-1425.

David Kaczenski
Executive Director
Mass Rural Water Association