Toms Way Residents Sue Chemical Companies Over PFAS Contamination As Mass DEP Launches Investigation

A group of Toms Way residents have filed a class action lawsuit against the manufacturers and suppliers of PFAS, often referred to as "forever chemicals," over the contamination of their mid-island properties with "staggering" levels of PFAS.

The legal action comes as the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection launches an investigation of the nearby Fairgrounds Road municipal campus (the site of the former Nantucket Electric Company) as a potential source contributing to high levels of PFAS on Toms Way.

All 16 of the private groundwater wells on Toms Way, a residential dirt road located in the mid-island area, were tested and showed elevated levels of PFAS contamination when the results were revealed in September 2023.

"Residents were alarmed to learn they had been consuming contaminated water for
years without their knowledge," the lawsuit states.

The residents bringing the legal action are Margaret and Robert Ruley, Anna and Albert Swietlik, Catherine and Perry Condon, along with Joanne Skokan, and they have hired the Connecticut-based law firm Silver Golub & Teitell to represent them. They are suing a group of companies involving in the manufacturing and distribution of PFAS chemicals, including Dupont, The 3M Company, Arkema, BASF Corp, Chemdesign Products, Corteva Inc., Deepwater Chemicals Inc., National Foam Inc., and The Chemours Company.

"Defendants knew the chemicals and/or products to be unsafe but represented the
opposite and continued manufacturing and selling the chemicals," the lawsuit states.

Read the full lawsuit by clicking here

Beyond the testing results showing contamination of the 16 private wells on Toms Way, the lawsuit also includes blood test results for plaintiff Anna Swietlik which showed that she had "PFAS concentration levels that were elevated and dangerous to human health..."

While the lawsuit doesn't explicitly name the source of the PFAS contamination on Toms Way, it does describe an incident that occurred on Dec. 19, 2022 when a contractor spilled aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) while extracting it from trucks at the Nantucket Fire Department on Fairgrounds Road. The facility is located approximately 800 feet from Toms Way, and the testing of the private wells on the road began just eight months later.

According to the town, the DEP is also investigating the 2 Fairgrounds Road municipal campus (the site of the former Nantucket Electric Company) as a potential source contributing to high levels of PFAS on Toms Way. That investigation is scheduled for the fall of 2024 and spring of 2025. The town purchased 2 Fairgrounds Road from the Nantucket Electric Company in 2004, and it is now the home of the Planning & Land Use Services (PLUS) Department and a parking area.

"Although the town quickly installed a new water main on Toms Way upon discovering the private well contamination, it is still important to determine the source(s) of this PFAS so it can be mitigated," the town states on its website.

In addition to seeking damages from the companies, the lawsuit by the Toms Way residents aims to secure ongoing medical monitoring for the plaintiffs to provide early detection of cancer and other diseases believed to be caused by exposure to PFAS chemicals.

“The residents of Nantucket, and especially those who live near the firehouse and the airport, have come into contact with high levels of PFAS on a constant basis, causing substantially elevated health risks, as well as property damage and diminished property values,” said Silver Golub & Teitell partner Ian Sloss, who represents the Toms Way residents.

The town and Nantucket Memorial Airport filed a similar lawsuit against a group of chemical companies involved in the manufacturing PFAS related to the contamination of properties around the airport. That legal action was filed back in 2021 following the discovery of PFAS exposure believed to be the result of AFFF that was released during drills required by the Federal Aviation Administration.

The lawsuit by Toms Way residents outlined the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection's ongoing investigation of PFAS exposure on Nantucket, as well as the town's efforts to address the contamination of properties near the airport and the Fairgrounds Road firehouse.

"In July 2023, MassDEP began requesting permission to test the drinking water
wells of residents of Tom’s Way, Nantucket for PFAS," the lawsuit stated. "In September 2023, the investigation took a significant turn when the results of those tests revealed that all 16 private wells on Tom’s Way, located mid-island, were contaminated with PFAS, with levels ranging from 7 to 900 parts per trillion (ppt)....By late 2023, the scope of the investigation had broadened further. MassDEP began a comprehensive site investigation, taking additional water and soil samples from across Nantucket to understand the full extent of the contamination. The Town of Nantucket, in response to mounting community concerns, began connecting affected areas like Tom’s Way to the municipal water supply. By May 2024, the installation of the new water system was completed, and all wells on
Tom’s Way were decommissioned."

Editor's note: an earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) as airport firefighting foam. The error has been corrected.