WICOMICO COUNTY, Md. - Perdue Agribusiness is now facing a new lawsuit, this one in federal court, over alleged PFAS (per and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) at and near its facility on Zion Church Road near Salisbury.
The company is already facing a class action lawsuit seeking financial compensation for the problem, and this latest suit was filed by the same law firm (Brockstedt Mandalas Federico) on behalf of two Wicomico County residents.
The suit alleges Perdue knew about PFAS contamination in 2023, but did not notify hundreds of nearby residents effected until nearly a year later in October of 2024.
Attorney Chase Brockstedt represents the plaintiffs. He claims Perdue is in violation of the Resources Conservation and Recovery Act, because his clients allege Perdue is still dumping wastewater contaminated with forever chemicals.
"RCRA prohibits open dumping and protects groundwater and surface water from contamination that is caused by the, improper disposal of waste, which is what is happening in this case," he said.
Drew Getty, Perdue Farms' Vice President of Environmental Sustainability and Government Relations disagrees and says Perdue has been working to remedy the situation, well before either lawsuit was filed.
"This is a separate lawsuit brought by the same law firm. It doesn't change the work that we're doing with MDE (Maryland Department of the Environment) at the direction of. To address PFAS, both in the community and at our facility," he said.
Perdue says it has completed well water testing at 100 percent of the 673 properties identified by the MDE for testing. It says it has installed PFAS treatment systems at 90 percent of impacted properties, and is continuing to provide bottled water and remove potential PFAS sources.
In a statement, Perdue spokesperson Andrea Staub said "PFAS is a national issue, not one isolated to this community. A litigation-first strategy does nothing to serve the public interest or protect residents. Perdue AgriBusiness is committed to working with regulators and impacted communities--not lawyers--to resolve this issue responsibly."
Despite the water treatment system, questions remain as to whether contamination continues. "There is no EPA guidance for what levels of PFAs should be in wastewater. But we've we've gone ahead and installed that system at the site," Getty said.
Brockstedt says "Purdue is trying to sort of give the, appearance to the general public that they're doing everything that they possibly can when the reality of it is, is that they are not."
This lawsuit does not seek a specific dollar figure, but does demand Perdue end the alleged PFAS contamination and pay for cleanup.
