ALPENA — If the companies that produced products containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS, did so after knowing the chemicals were toxic, they should be held accountable.

That is the shared opinion of government officials who represent the Alpena area in Lansing after it was announced last week the state was filing suit against 15 companies who produced the chemicals.

It is estimated by the state there could be as many as 11,000 sites around Michigan contaminated with PFAS. Action is already being taken at 70 sites.

Among the companies listed in the suits filed by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel are large corporations 3M and DuPont.

State Sen. Jim Stamas, R-Midland, said the lawsuits are in the early stages and there is a lot of discovery work that needs to be done before conclusions can be drawn.

But he said that, if investigations reveal any of the companies knew the potential health impacts of PFAS and continued to produce it, those companies should help carry the financial burden of cleanup and remediation efforts.

“It needs to be determined about how much did they know and when did they know it,” Stamas said. “Science continues to emerge, so what we knew 20 years ago is different than today. If they did know, then, yes, that is a concern. If they didn’t and want to help, that is good, as well.”

State Rep. Sue Allor, R-Wolverine, who has long been an advocate for aggressive action on PFAS, said the time for studies is done and steps to protect the public from the chemicals needs to be the highest priority.

“Awareness of the harmful effects of PFAS contamination goes back many decades, but yet production and use of these chemicals continues,” Allor said. “For instance, one member in this family of chemicals was shown to cause birth defects, enlarged organs, cancer, and tumors when ingested. Additional research later showed a ‘probable link’ between that same member of the chemical family and different types of cancer, thyroid disease, high cholesterol, and other human health issues. How many more years of internal studies, (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) evaluations, and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry reports must there be before companies using PFAS chemicals are held accountable? If litigation is needed to get answers from companies regarding the knowledge they had on the dangers the use of PFAS chemicals had on the public, we deserve to know.”

In the event the courts rule in the state’s favor, or a settlement agreement is reached with the defendants, Stamas and Allor both say 100% of the funds need to be used to address PFAS issues and not shuffled to other funds in the state budget.

“I would hope we aren’t suing just for general fund dollars,” Stamas said. “It would need to be used to cover the cost of damages for our citizens. I think the money needs to go toward cleanup, land remediation, and to continue to learn more about the product and its environmental and health impacts.”

Allor was at Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s press conference where Whitmer announced the legal action and Nessel explained the reasons for it.

Nessel came out strong against companies that have caused, or are causing, harm to the environment and putting Michiganders at risk.

“We bring this action today on behalf of the people of Michigan,” said Nessel. “It is our responsibility to protect our residents and our state’s natural resources and property by preventing and abating hazards to public health, safety, welfare and the environment and by placing the responsibility for this massive undertaking with those responsible for creating the problem.”

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ss_alpenanews.com.