A Massachusetts town has sued several industrial paper manufacturers in federal court, seeking to force the companies to pay for removal of forever chemicals that have contaminated the local water supply.
In a complaint filed Tuesday in federal court, the town of Pepperell said the aquifer from which it draws its drinking water has been polluted by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances that the town traces to the historic operations of paper mills and industrial sites once owned by Georgia-Pacific LLC, Weyerhaeuser Co., and others.
"Defendants, as the responsible parties, and not the town of Pepperell, its taxpayers, or its customers, should bear all past, present, and future costs of addressing the above presence and removal of PFAS from its drinking water supply," the town said.
Pepperell sued the companies under a provision of the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, which holds polluters liable for the release of hazardous substances into the environment. In 2024, under the Biden administration, the Environmental Protection Agency designated two types of PFAS, perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, as hazardous substances under Section 102(a) of CERCLA.
The town said paper manufacturing that took place for decades at sites on the banks of the North Nashua River produced PFAS-contaminated waste that was either dumped into the river or leached into the river by way of groundwater. The river was once cited as one of the most polluted in the country, according to Pepperell's complaint.
That contamination has reached the aquifer where Pepperell's municipal wells are, the town said, and PFAS has been detected in that water at concentrations greater than the state and federal maximum contaminant levels.
To make its water safe, Pepperell said it must now build a special water treatment system to remove PFAS from its water supply, "since traditional water treatment technologies do not remove these contaminants."
"The town of Pepperell will be forced to implement extraordinary and costly measures to combat the contamination and to keep water potable for decades to come," the town said.
The complaint names as defendants Georgia-Pacific as the surviving entity of James River, the company that operated the Pepperell Paper Mill in East Pepperell; Weyerhaeuser as the former operator of the Weyerhaeuser Paper Mill in Fitchburg; Neenah Paper Inc., which acquired FiberMark Inc., another former operator of the Weyerhaeuser mill; Ahlstrom-Munksjo Paper Inc., as the surviving entity and owner of the former Fitchburg Paper Mill; and Hollingsworth & Vose Co., which owns a specialty paper manufacturing facility in West Groton.
Additionally, the complaint names Honeywell Inc. as the current owner of Conductorlab, where PFAS-based anti-fuming agents were used when the site was producing circuit boards and semiconductors between 1958 and 1985.
"Thousands of Pepperell residents have been drinking PFAS-contaminated water for decades because Honeywell and other companies released dangerous chemicals from their facilities into the waterways feeding the community's drinking supply," said Paul J. Napoli of Napoli Shkolnik PLLC, who is representing the town. "These are real families who will face real health consequences from these toxins. We are working on behalf of the town of Pepperell to hold parties accountable, push for remediation, and advocate for changes to ensure this doesn't happen again."
The facilities Pepperell blames for the PFAS contamination are located upstream from Pepperell on the North Nashua River or near the town on a shared aquifer.
The complaint alleges that PFAS was released from these five manufacturing sites "via several pathways," including wastewater discharges directly into waterways and groundwater, spills, sanitary sewers, solid waste and sludge, air emissions, and surface runoff.
Pepperell is seeking a CERCLA liability declaration and compensation for the damage to its public water supply and the cost of treating its water.
The town is represented by Harold P. Naughton Jr., James L. Simpson, Paul J. Napoli, and Marisa C. Font-Robert of Napoli Shkolnik PLLC.
Counsel information for the defendants was not available.
The case is Town of Pepperell, Massachusetts v. Georgia-Pacific, LLC et al., case number 1:26-cv-10965, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
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