Environmental activist Erin Brockovich and a team of lawyers are tackling the proliferation of so-called “forever chemicals” in Northwest Georgia, heralding the effort in a news conference last month on the banks of a creek in Dalton.
“The science is in,” Brockovich, the subject of an Oscar-winning movie, told reporters Sept. 20. “This … will be the largest, most dangerous emerging contaminant this country has ever seen.”
However, they aren’t the first legal advocates to take on PFAS in the region. In August, the city of Calhoun, Georgia, about 20 miles south of Dalton, agreed to overhaul its water treatment systems to filter out PFAS, an abbreviation for a large category of chemicals called perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
Used for decades because of their resistance to heat and stains, PFAS have resilient chemical bonds that take a long time to break down naturally and can build up in plants, animals and humans. Scientific research indicates PFAS can cause developmental delays in children, increase the risk of prostate, kidney and testicular cancers and reduce the body’s ability to fight infections, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.