Lawsuit indicates that a Colorado Springs resident developed ulcerative colitis and thyroid disease from chemicals in AFFF firefighting foam, which contaminated local drinking water.
According to allegations raised in a recently filed lawsuit, a Colorado woman developed thyroid disease and ulcerative colitis from AFFF (aqueous film-forming foam) that contaminated the municipal water supply near Colorado Springs, a region noted for high levels of the toxic "forever chemicals" used in the firefighting foam products.
The complaint (PDF) was filed by Madeline Stanger late last month in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, naming a host of chemical and fire safety companies as defendants, including 3M Company, DuPont, BASF Corporation and others involved in the manufacturing or sale of the products.
Stanger indicates that her injuries were the direct result of exposure to high levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contained in AFFF, which has been used at the Colorado Springs Municipal Airport and other locations near her home to combat fuel-based fires.
"It was foreseeable to all Defendants that the PFAS chemicals and/or precursors or derivatives they sold into Colorado [would] contaminate the environment, including surface and ground water in the state," Stanger states in the complaint. "Plaintiff's unknowing consumption of water contaminated with Defendant's PFAS chemicals directly and proximately caused Plaintiff to develop ulcerative colitis and thyroid disease, and to suffer severe personal injuries, pain, suffering and emotion distress."
The complaint raises allegations similar to those being presented in hundreds of AFFF lawsuits now being pursued by former firefighters directly exposed to the chemicals during training and response exercises, as well as other PFAS water contamination lawsuits, alleging that individuals living near military bases, airports and firefighting training centers developed various injuries, including testicular cancer, kidney cancer, liver cancer, thyroid cancer, ulcerative colitis and other thyroid-related injuries.