Source: Children’s Health Defense

By Shannon Kelleher

Residents of a Maryland community afflicted with contamination from harmful chemicals are demanding that a local soybean processing plant immediately stop releasing toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) into their drinking and groundwater in violation of a federal law that governs the disposal of hazardous waste.

Attorneys representing two residents of Salisbury, Maryland, on April 29 sent a letter to Perdue Agribusiness as well as state and federal regulators, warning that they intend to sue the company in 90 days if it continues violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

The Notice of Intent (NOI) to sue calls on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) to enforce the law.

By allegedly continuing to release and improperly dispose of these PFAS from its facility, Perdue’s actions “may present an imminent and substantial endangerment to health or the environment,” says the letter.

The notice comes on the heels of a class action lawsuit filed in October 2024 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland on behalf of six residents of Salisbury, a city of about 33,000 people in Maryland’s Eastern Shore region, who live down the road from the facility.

Perdue Farms, the parent company of Perdue Agribusiness, was founded in Salisbury 105 years ago and currently has 21 facilities across the U.S.

The lawsuit was filed after MDE stated in a September 2024 letter that it was designating Perdue a “responsible person” for the contamination, noting that well and surface water sampling data west of the plant are “suggestive of a regional PFAS contamination plume traceable to the Site.”

The class action suit calls for the company to pay to clean up the PFAS contamination and to fund a medical monitoring program for those exposed to the chemicals.

In February, Perdue filed a motion to dismiss or stay the case pending completion of MDE’s investigation of the PFAS contamination, stating that the “Plaintiffs raced to the courthouse without sufficient facts.” In early April, the plaintiffs responded with a request for a hearing on the motion.

Chase Brockstedt, an attorney for the plaintiffs with the law firm Brockstedt Mandalas Federico, says the firm represents over 300 Salisbury residents living near the Perdue facility, many of whom have high concentrations of PFAS in their residential wells.

The second lawsuit, if filed, would call for regulatory action to stem the pollution the plaintiffs believe is ongoing, “which is not really a remedy that’s available in the class case,” said Brockstedt.

MDE did not address a question about why it is continuing to allow the plant to discharge wastewater into the environment despite the finding of widespread contamination.

“Public health and safety is our focus,” said a spokesperson for MDE.

“Under our oversight, the company is conducting a scientific assessment of the property and has assembled a work plan to seek to identify the source. We will continue to oversee this process, as it is important that the source be identified as quickly as possible and, if possible, mitigated, to prevent further impacts to the environment.”

The EPA declined to comment, citing that the issue may become pending litigation.

“After being named as a responsible person by the [MDE] after a statewide sampling project found elevated PFAS levels on our property, we have been working tirelessly, and with urgency, in partnership with MDE to address the issue,” said Andrea Staub, Perdue Farms’ senior vice president for corporate communications.

The recent NOI “does not change our plan of action,” she added.

Salisbury is one of a growing number of agricultural communities across the country struggling with PFAS pollution as the chemicals are increasingly detected on farmland.

The contamination is linked to a longstanding practice of the land application of sewage sludge as fertilizer or groundwater contaminated by PFAS.

PFAS is also increasingly added to pesticides sprayed on crops, according to a 2024 study, with the federal regulators currently poised to approve a new PFAS-containing pesticide ingredient developed by the agrichemical company Syngenta.

But while recent lawsuits have been filed related to contamination from PFAS in sewage sludge, the litigation against the Perdue soybean processing facility in Salisbury may be the first of its kind, potentially serving as a canary in the coal mine for future PFAS legal actions.

“I’m unaware of another [PFAS] case out there that has an agribusiness facility like this one,” said Brockstedt. “If there’s not one already pending, I would imagine it’s only a matter of time.”

Grappling with contamination

Over 350 wells in Salisbury are reportedly contaminated with PFAS chemicals, which have been linked to certain cancers, liver damage, thyroid problems and other health issues even at small exposure levels. Studies determining the extent of the contamination are ongoing, according to the letter.

The local Perdue facility has allegedly contaminated the community through lagoons that leak PFAS-laced wastewater and sludge, discharges into a local stream, spraying “highly contaminated” wastewater on croplands and forest, and improper disposal of polluted soil, among other practices.

The MDE in 2023 discovered PFAS levels as high as 33 parts per trillion (ppt) for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and 1500 ppt for perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) in wastewater sprayed on the local crops and forest lands.

The EPA in April 2024 set limits of just 4 ppt for both PFAS chemicals, which an international cancer research group classified as carcinogenic and possibly carcinogenic to humans, respectively.

Even after finding high levels of the chemicals in its groundwater, Perdue waited almost a year before informing people living near the plant that their drinking water was likely contaminated, according to the letter.

“The source of the PFAS in the groundwater at our Perdue AgriBusiness facility has not been determined,” the company says on its website.

“Working with MDE, Perdue AgriBusiness is dedicated to actively investigating all possibilities, including other potential sources in the area.”

A report conducted in January by Langan Engineering and Environmental Services, a consultant investigating Salisbury’s groundwater contamination, pointed to a 2019 discharge of PFAS-containing firefighting foam as one of several potential sources.

“We think that’s a distraction and a red herring,” said Brockstedt. “We don’t think that is remotely the source of this contamination.”

The PFAS chemicals the plant allegedly continues to discharge could be entering the facility through the soybean crops it processes, or it could be related to what’s happening during the refining process, he added.

“We’re not 100% sure yet.”

Since November, Perdue has been installing PFAS treatment systems to treat drinking water on impacted properties “at no cost to residents,” according to its website. The company has also been providing free bottled water to residents living within the area being tested for PFAS, it says.

In January, the company’s associates in Salisbury donated over $100,000 to the American Cancer Society.

Perdue’s Salisbury soybean facility previously came under fire for air pollution violations, with MDE announcing a $12 million settlement with the company in July 2024 that requires the company to complete $400,000 of environmental projects for the community.

Originally published by The New Lede. 

Shannon Kelleher is staff reporter for The New Lede.