01-04-2025
Judge dismisses $400M PFAS claim filed by New Mexico landowners
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed in August by almost 30 New Mexico landowners over PFAS contamination.
The Curry County property owners, who live near Cannon Air Force Base, allege the U.S. Department of Defense contaminated their properties by using firefighting foams containing substances known as "forever chemicals" — which amounted to a "taking" of their property by the federal government without sufficient compensation.
Aqueous film-forming foam, a firefighting foam that contains per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, was used at Cannon Air Force Base for decades, according to the lawsuit. PFAS was discovered both on the base and in surrounding areas in 2018.
A local dairy farmer, Art Schaap, had to euthanize thousands of cows on his farm as a result of the plume of contamination. Schaap was a plaintiff in the case.
U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Armando Bonilla wrote in an order the claims of several plaintiffs were "unripe."
"While these plaintiffs have been alerted to the possibility of serious PFAS contamination on their property — and have been working diligently to determine the extent of that contamination and hold the Government accountable for its contribution — they have not yet been able to confirm the extent of the contamination through complete groundwater and soil testing," Bonilla wrote.
Furthermore, the judge wrote, there wasn't sufficient evidence the Air Force intended to spread contamination or was required to dispose of PFAS in any particular way — at the time of use, the chemicals had not been deemed hazardous.
A bill passed this year by the New Mexico Legislature includes PFAS under the state's hazardous waste definition.
