Silverthorne joins class action lawsuit over ‘perpetual chemical’ contamination after authorities approve

The Silverthorne City Council approved the city to join a class action lawsuit against two companies after contaminants commonly referred to as “forever chemicals” were found in some of the city’s water supplies.

Public Works Director Tom Daugherty told the Silverthorne City Council at a July 10 work session that two sets of positive test results for PFAS (an acronym for per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances) entitled the city to join a lawsuit against 3M and DuPont, which he called “major producers of PFAS.” Silverthorne staff said the results showed the city identified four PFAS entry points at municipal pump houses, which are public utility infrastructure that deals with running water.

Developed in the 1940s, PFAS are synthetic chemicals that resist grease, oil, water and heat. They are commonly referred to as “forever chemicals” because they break down very slowly over time.

The lawsuit follows a series of lawsuits filed in recent years against companies found to produce PFAS, as the chemicals have been linked to significant health risks such as cancer. 3M has been at the center of a handful of those lawsuits and recently paid $10 billion to water utilities. across the country after officials demanded compensation for cleanup costs.

Daugherty said PFAS were first detected in tests the state conducted in 2020, which Silverthorne voluntarily participated in. In addition to the 2020 data used in the lawsuit, testing data from 2023-24 will also be presented.

“Our PFAS levels were very low. They were even below the maximum level for contaminants set by the EPA,” Daughtery said. “But that doesn’t mean we’re exempt from the lawsuit.”

Council member Tim Applegate asked Daughtery if there were “any downsides to being part of the lawsuit,” to which Daughtery responded “no.”

Mayor Ann-Marie Sandquist said this appears to be a way to get “free money,” even though the amount the city could realistically receive from the lawsuit is rather insignificant.

At the time of testing in 2020, the Colorado Department of Health & Environment had set a state limit of 70 ppm for PFAS, and the Silverthorne water results “were well below the state limit,” the city’s website says.But the federal government issued a new advisory for PFAS on June 15, 2022, that changed things. According to Silverthorne city staff, the advisory set the limit for the lowest detectable amount of PFAS that can be detected in laboratories.

The recommendation had no federal effect, meaning Silverthorne technically did not miss its PFAS levels, but it did prompt the city to increase the frequency of PFAS testing, which is why it now has data for 2023-24.

Silverthorne officials said both the 2020 and 2023-24 results were similar and below the Environmental Protection Agency’s current mass contamination level. The city plans to look for solutions if it ever needs to remediate PFAS levels, but no remediation action is needed at this time, officials said.

Daughtery said the widespread use of these chemicals means they are quite common in everyday life.

“A lot of things in this room probably contain PFAS. The carpet probably has a water-repellent coating that contains them,” Daughtery said.

Frisco joined two similar lawsuits in November 2023 after testing in 2020 also discovered PFAS in its water supply. The class action lawsuits in which the company participated also included 3M and Dupont.

According to the New York Times Experts say these litigation cases are just the beginning of the fight for PFAS compensation. In May, the New York Times reported that plastics industry professionals were being told to prepare for PFAS lawsuits with potentially “astronomical” costs that could “dwarf” corporate liability lawsuits related to asbestos.