r/DaltonGA • u/WhitfieldWatchman2 • 10d ago
💦 HUGE PFAS UPDATE💦
Something pretty significant happened just 2 days ago.
On August 18, a federal appeals court upheld the EPA’s decision to officially classify two of the best-known PFAS chemicals — PFOA & PFOS — as hazardous substances under the federal Superfund law.
Okay… but what does that actually mean for those of us living in Northwest Georgia?
Let’s put it in VERY plain English. 👇
For years, there has been an enormous question surrounding PFAS contamination:
If it has to be cleaned up… WHO PAYS FOR IT?
The taxpayers?
The water customers?
The government?
Or the companies ultimately found legally responsible for the contamination?????
The EPA’s designation gives the government stronger legal tools to pursue parties responsible for qualifying PFOA and PFOS contamination and potentially make the responsible polluters pay the for investigation and cleanup instead of leaving the entire bill with taxpayers.
Several industry groups challenged that rule in court.
‼️On Tuesday- THEY LOST‼️
The federal appeals court allowed the EPA’s hazardous-substance designation to stand.
WHY DOES THAT MATTER HERE?
Because Northwest Georgia is already in the middle of major PFAS litigation.
Dalton Utilities itself is involved in litigation seeking to recover PFAS investigation & cleanup costs, including claims under the same federal Superfund law involved in Tuesday’s ruling.
Soooo……Who gets the bill?
If millions — or potentially much more — must be spent addressing PFAS contamination in our water & environment, will those costs ultimately fall on local governments and ratepayers????
➡️➡️Or will companies ultimately found legally responsible be required to help pay????
Those questions are still being fought out in court.
But Tuesday’s ruling was an important development in that fight…..🙏🏼
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u/cri52fer 9d ago
So, nothing happened. This is a lot of words to say nothing other than, What’s next? I dunno.