Judge Michael Toto of the Middlesex County Superior Court in New Jersey has certified a case against the Middlesex Water Company as a class action lawsuit.
The ruling was made official last week and has gained attention since customers of Middlesex Water Company have begun to join the litigation.
The judge divided the lawsuit into groups. Now people from Rahway to South Plainfield [customers of Middlesex Water Company] are meeting the criteria of each group deemed eligible to litigate the disputes against the water company.
The company serves over 300,000 Middlesex County residents.
Children, senior citizens, families, and entire communities have been affected by the company failing to notify its customers of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) levels in the water.
The water company notified its customers that the PFOA levels had exceeded the ‘acceptable standards’ but did nothing to remedy the issue detected via water testing at the Park Avenue Treatment Plant in South Plainfield, New Jersey.
According to the National Library of Medicine, “Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is an anthropogenic contaminant that differs in several ways from most other well-studied organic chemicals found in drinking water. PFOA is extremely resistant to environmental degradation processes and thus persists indefinitely.”
PFOA is common in industrial and textile items. When released into the environment, it doesn’t break down and remains in plants, animals, and people.
The lawsuit began when Tomas Vera, an Avenel resident, decided to test his water. “This class action brings a huge measure of justice to the thousands of consumers affected by this tainted water,” said Michael Galpern, one of Vera’s attornies on the case.
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