Real Change?

Arkansas AG must make sure environmental lawsuit isn’t just a cash grab with little lasting effect

Arkansas is known as the Natural State. Hopefully a lawsuit filed earlier this month just may reinforce that.

State Attorney General Tim Griffin brought legal action against more than two dozen companies, charging they are responsible for contaminating the state’s land and water with what are known as “forever chemicals.”

The chemicals — collectively flourosuficants or PFAS— are used in numerous everyday products from food packaging to home cleaning products and have a variety industrial applications. They resist stains, water and heat. They are reportedly toxic to humans and wildlife even at low levels and don’t degrade over time like most other substances,

The suits claims the companies knew the chemicals were toxic, would be released into the ground and water, and sold them anyway.

“3M, Dupont and many other manufacturers knew that their PFAS products were harmful to humans, yet they continued to manufacture and sell them without warning consumers of their dangers,” The AG’S office said in a statement.

The companies deny the charges. The suit asks for unspecified monetary damages.

We are always happy to see companies called to account for reckless environmental practices. And should the lawsuit’s allegations against these specific companies be sustained in court, we hope the result is a significant cleanup of current contamination and prevention of further damage.

That’s what we hope. Unfortunately, we have seen over and over again, all across the nation, big companies settle such lawsuits for hard cash and maybe a few concessions, but essentially go right on with business as usual.

It’s up to AG Griffin to make sure that doesn’t happen in the Natural State.