SOUTH JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — A West Deptford company has reached a settlement with the state of New Jersey over decades of PFAS contamination in the water supply. It’s worth nearly $400 million, the biggest such settlement in state history.
Solvay Specialty Polymers has agreed to clean up its mess after years under threat of litigation — and it will be costly. A final figure hasn’t been calculated for the settlement yet, but Attorney General Matt Platkin says it could reach even beyond $400 million as the state learns more about the extent of the problem.
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn LaTourette says there are elevated levels of PFAS in the drinking water of towns in Gloucester and Camden counties, and this money will help remove them.
“It is the beginning of a lot of work ahead,” said LaTourette.
And he says there’s a message here for all polluters in the state: “Leave the place better than you found it.”
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Platkin says Solvay isn’t the only company guilty of water pollution, and the state is coming for them, too.
“We commend Solvay for coming forward and putting its efforts towards cleaning up the consequences of its actions rather than fighting our enforcement efforts. And we encourage other companies in similar situations to do the same,” he said.
Solvay has agreed to stop using the “forever chemicals” in production of plastics and commercial coatings. The settlement also includes remediation of groundwater, public water systems and private water wells to remove PFAS, the “forever chemicals” used to make plastics and commercial coatings.
“This reflects how serious PFAS contamination is and how difficult it is to eradicate it from our drinking water. People of New Jersey deserve an environment free from PFAS, free from all environmental harms,” Platkin said.
Platkin says the Solvay settlement was years in the making, and it won’t be final until the end of a 60-day period of public comment, which begins Aug. 7. On that date, this agreement will be posted in the New Jersey Register, the official journal of proposed regulations and rulemaking activities in state government.
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