WICOMICO CO., MD - WBOC has obtained a third-party report on PFAS contamination at Perdue’s AgriBusiness identifying possible sources of the “forever chemicals.”
The report was submitted in United States District Court of Maryland as part of an ongoing lawsuit against Perdue Agribusiness over the detection of PFAS at and around the Wicomico County facility.
Perdue has pushed to have that lawsuit dismissed.
On March 7, as part of that effort to have the case dismissed or stayed by the courts, Perdue submitted a letter from the Maryland Department of Environment (MDE). In that letter, MDE references a January 21, 2025 Environmental Assessment conducted by an independent environmental and engineering service at the facility on Zion Church Road. That assessment was not included in the court filing on March 7.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit, represented by law firm Brockstedt Mandalas and Federico (BMF) petitioned for that assessment to be shared with them and the court. On April 10, the United States District Judge ordered Perdue to do so. The environmental assessment, prepared by Langan Engineering and Environmental Services, LLC, was then submitted to the court on Monday, April 14.
The assessment, according to court documents, was intended to identify possible sources of PFAS that could affect soil or groundwater at Perdue Agribusiness. Eight potential sites of interest at the facility on Zion Church Road were identified.
Langan says in their report they did not see any current activity at the site to cause PFAS environmental concerns, though noted past activity or incidents could have contributed to the higher-than-normal levels.
A fire suppression system at the facility that used firefighting foam, former spray irrigation fields, and stockpiled soil on the property were all named as potential sources.
Perdue tells WBOC the fire suppression system is currently the main focus of their investigation into the chemicals. Certain firefighting foams contain PFAS, and Perdue used a fire suppression system prior to 2021 that may have used those foams (AFFF), according to the Langan report.
“Currently the focus at the site is firefighting foam,” Perdue’s VP of Environmental Sustainability tells WBOC. “It's used in fire suppression equipment that we have at the site. It’s the same type of firefighting foam that’s used in multiple industries throughout the country. It’s not unique to agriculture. The areas they’ve identified relate to firefighting foam and its potential presence at the site.”
Though the assessment reads that Perdue reported no knowledge of the fire suppression system being activated in response to a fire, both Getty and the Langan report acknowledged an accidental trigger of the system that would have involved foam.
“[Perdue AgriBusiness] has indicated that there have been accidental triggers of the system in the past history of the plant. The last reported accidental trigger occurred around November 2019,” the Langan assessment reads.
When asked why Perdue did not alert the public after that trigger, Getty told WBOC that PFAS were not regulated in drinking water until April of 2024. So while Perdue was aware of the accidental trigger of the fire system and performed cleanup, there were no reporting requirements at the state level at the time, according to Getty.
Getty tells WBOC that the Maryland Department of Environment first contacted Perdue in 2023 as part of a statewide survey of wastewater systems.
“When it was identified in August of 2023 that there was PFAS we worked with MDE and the health departments to understand the levels we were seeing and what needed to be done as next steps.”
Perdue AgriBusiness tells WBOC their investigation into the PFAS continues, as does their efforts to assist the nearby communities.
“There’s a lot of work that’s being done in collaboration with MDE and with the health department,” Getty said. “We’ve been working really closely to make sure that the community has the water treatment systems that are in place if they need them.”
97% of properties near the AgriBusiness plant that have requested testing from Perdue have received it, Perdue says, and the company has installed water treatment systems at more than 83% of homes where PFAS were detected.
