WICOMICO COUNTY, Md. -- Lawyers with the firm Brockstedt Mandalas Federico are now claiming that air emissions could be a potential source of PFAS that is spreading from a Perdue AgriBusiness facility on Zion Church Road. The law firm filed a class-action lawsuit against Perdue in October of last year.
A study commissioned by the firm in September of 2025 identified an expanded impact area. It claimed that more homes and people could have contaminated well water than initially thought.
At that time, Perdue pushed back and said the firm's study presented an "out-of-date and incomplete picture".
Two months later, lawyers with BMF believe the impacted area could be expanding once again.
"We do believe that there may be some air component to this as well," said Chase Brockstedt, a partner at BMF. "We very well may be moving our testing to the east at some point in time. We're already doing a little bit of it directly south of the plant, but we may be moving to the east as well, depending on what we find out."
Maryland's Department of the Environment first detected PFAS, also known as forever chemicals, at Perdue's facility on Zion Church Road in August of 2023. Wastewater at the site tested positive for elevated levels of the chemicals, which have been linked to cancer.
A fire suppression system at the facility, which used firefighting foam, a former spray irrigation field, and stockpiled soil on the property, were all named as potential sources.
Fast forward to Wednesday, November 12, 2025, and Perdue issued a statement, saying it had narrowed down the list to just one source.
According to Perdue, an investigation identified firefighting foam as the only site-specific source of PFAS. Langan Engineering and Environmental Services led that investigation. A non-PFAS fire suppression system was installed at the facility in July of 2025, according to Perdue.
"Salisbury is our home, and we take our responsibility to our neighbors seriously," said Drew Getty, SVP for Environmental Sustainability. "It was important -- and I'm certain reassuring to our neighbors -- that we have identified the PFAS source. I am confident that the steps we have taken over the past year will adequately address the PFAS contamination. We will continue to prioritize the health and safety of our community."
Brockstedt told WBOC on Thursday that his firm is skeptical of that claim.
"They came out with this site-specific language and this press release indicating that, you know, that they've gotten to the bottom of the problem and it's fixed and everything's good to go," said Brockstedt. "Well, the reality of it is, is that there is a lot of discharge coming off of this site."
MDE tells WBOC that no conclusions have been reached regarding the source of PFAS contamination at Perdue's facility.
The state agency also provided the following update to their investigation:
From the outset, when MDE's proactive sampling first revealed the presence of PFAS at the facility, we have followed the science with public health and safety as our top priorities. MDE continues to oversee Perdue's sampling of private wells in the surrounding community and the installation of residential water treatment systems where elevated PFAS levels are detected.
We are also providing oversight of the company's efforts to identify the potential source of contamination, with the goal of preventing further environmental harm. At this time, MDE cannot verify any of the claims asserted in Perdue's statement, as we did not receive the company's latest investigation report on potential sources of contamination until this afternoon. MDE's technical experts will thoroughly review that report and, after receiving the related data, determine whether it meets MDE's requirements or if additional informationand investigation are needed.MDE is also looking into whether emissions from the facility's operations contain PFAS.
MDE remains committed to working closely with local and state health departments to ensure the protection of nearby residents and the environment.
Perdue also sent us a statement in response to the claim that air emissions could be responsible for the further spread of PFAS chemicals.
"There's no evidence to support any of the irresponsible claims made by plaintiffs' lawyers. Perdue AgriBusiness conducts all of our operations in lock step with the Maryland Department of the Environment. Testing and monitoring for PFAS is central to the state and federal regulations we adhere to, and our own enduring responsibility to the health and safety of communities in Maryland.
Recent presentations by plaintiffs' lawyers about our planned expansion at the Zion Church Road facility dismissed the fact that every aspect of this project has been reviewed with the state from the start — nothing has progressed outside the public permitting process, which has included public hearings. Any suggestion otherwise is simply untrue and unfounded, as is any suggestion that the expansion will result in additional PFAS contamination.
Recent test results conducted as part of the state's air permitting process show no measurable PFAS contribution from our crush plant or soybean oil extraction operations. Our operations are highly regulated by MDE and our own high standards for environmental stewardship, so we are confident that our work to date has identified and addressed instances of PFAS at the facility."