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A Georgia environmental advocacy group and a farm owner have launched a legal battle against 3M Co., DuPont de Nemours Inc., and other key players in the state’s carpeting industry, holding them responsible for the widespread pollution of the Conasauga River with dangerous "forever chemicals."

The Allegations: Decades of PFAS Contamination

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Georgia federal court, the Coosa River Basin Initiative, Raymond J. Perkins Jr., and J. Perkins Farms LLC argue that chemical manufacturers, including 3M, DuPont, Chemours Co., and Corteva Inc., were fully aware of the hazardous nature of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) for more than 30 years.

Despite this knowledge, the lawsuit claims, these companies continued supplying PFAS-based chemicals to carpet manufacturers in Dalton, Georgia—the so-called “Carpet Capital of the World”—without ensuring proper environmental safeguards to prevent contamination.

Carpet Industry’s Role in River Pollution

For years, Dalton-based carpet manufacturers, including Shaw Industries Inc. and Mohawk Industries Inc., incorporated tens of millions of pounds of PFAS-laced chemicals into their products for water and stain resistance. However, not all the chemicals adhered to the carpets, leading to an unchecked discharge into the environment.

According to the plaintiffs, these excess fluorochemicals were funneled into billions of gallons of industrial wastewater, processed by Dalton Utilities’ publicly owned treatment system, and illegally released into the Conasauga River in direct violation of the Clean Water Act (CWA).

Systemic Failures and Legal Violations

The complaint alleges that chemical companies and carpet manufacturers were fully aware that the treatment system, known as the riverbend land application system (LAS), was incapable of filtering out PFAS. Yet, they continued their unchecked discharge practices, turning the Conasauga River into a chemical dumping ground.

“Defendants knew the LAS repeatedly failed to contain and treat pollutants—and they knew neither the wastewater treatment system nor the LAS were ever designed to eliminate PFAS,” the lawsuit states. “The result was an inevitable and ongoing flood of PFAS pollution.”

The Lingering Impact: A River Still at Risk

Although Shaw and Mohawk claim to have ceased using PFAS-containing chemicals in 2019, the plaintiffs argue the contamination continues today, as residual PFAS remains in manufacturing facilities, discharge pipes, and other materials used by these companies.